Production line for the production of ophthalmic lenses

ABSTRACT

An automated production line for the production of ophthalmic lenses comprises:a production line front end (1) comprising:a first injection-molding machine (10) and a second injection-molding machine (12)a casting module (14) comprisinga filling station (144) and a capping station (145);a stacking module (15) and a curing module (16);a destacking module (17) and a demolding and delensing modulea production line back end (2) comprising:a scalable treatment module (20) comprising a number of liquid baths for a liquid bath treatment of the cured lenses (CL) carried by the treatment carrier tray (200) to obtain the ophthalmic lenses, wherein the number of liquid baths are reduced or increased pending on the number of ophthalmic lenses concurrently produced by the production lines.

FIELD

The present invention generally deals with the manufacture of ophthalmiclenses, in particular contact lenses such as soft contact lenses, forexample silicone hydrogel contact lenses. More specifically, theinvention deals with a production line for the manufacture of suchlenses using plastic lens molds which are produced usinginjection-molding techniques.

BACKGROUND

Contact lenses, in particular soft contact lenses such as siliconehydrogel contact lenses, are produced using mass-manufacturingtechniques, in particular since these contact lenses are typically wornonly once (single use) and are subsequently disposed of. Obviously,therefore, very large numbers of such contact lenses must be produced inmore or less fully automated mass-manufacturing production lines. Inthis regard, two general types of fully automated production lines areknown which are fundamentally different regarding the type of lens moldsused for forming the contact lenses.

In the first type of production line, the lens molds for forming thecontact lenses are re-usable and are actually used thousands of times inthe production line before they are removed from the production line andreplaced by different re-usable lens molds. This means that after onecontact lens has been produced using these lens molds, these re-usablelens molds are cleaned, rinsed and dried in the production line, and aresubsequently used again in the next production run to form the nextcontact lens. Such re-usable lens molds are typically made of glass,e.g. quartz glass, and are very expensive (this is one reason why theglass lens molds must be re-used to produce large numbers of contactlenses), and curing of the lens-forming material may be effected withthe aid of UV-light and UV-photoinitiators contained in the lens-formingmaterial, these UV-photoinitiators triggering photopolymerization and/orcrosslinking of the lens-forming material (which may be a monomer or aprepolymer) upon being exposed to UV-light to form the contact lenses.

In the second type of production line, the lens molds for forming thecontact lenses are single-use lens molds. This means that after onecontact lens has been produced in one production run using suchsingle-use lens mold, the same lens mold is not used anymore, but rathera new single-use lens mold is used in the next production cycle forproducing the next contact lens. The used lens molds are typicallyreturned to the recycling process after having been used. Obviously,since the lens molds are used only once they must be cheap both withrespect to the material the lens molds are made of as well as withrespect to the process of their manufacture. Nevertheless, they must becapable of producing contact lenses of top quality. Single-use lensmolds are plastic lens molds which are typically made of polyolefines,in particular polypropylene, and they can be reliably andcost-effectively produced using injection-molding machines.

In injection-molding machines, a flowable hot thermoplastic material isinjected at high pressure into casting dies through so-called hotrunners (i.e. channels or pipes through which the flowable hotthermoplastic material is injected). The casting dies are shaped suchthat after curing of the hot thermoplastic material in the casting diesby cooling down, the plastic lens molds having the desired geometry(defined by the casting dies) are formed. Typically, aninjection-molding machine comprises two tool halves which are movabletowards and away from each other. When the two tool halves are movedtowards each other until they are in a closed position, the casting diesare formed between the two tool halves and the flowable hotthermoplastic material is injected into the casting dies at highpressure. After the flowable hot thermoplastic material has cooled downto form the plastic lens molds, the two tool halves are moved away fromeach other to an open position that allows for the removal of theplastic lens molds once they have been formed.

Thousands of such single use plastic lens molds are produced ininjection-molding machines or apparatuses which are arranged separatefrom the contact lens production lines. Typically, large numbers ofplastic lens molds having different geometries are produced and storeduntil they are needed to produce contact lenses having the respectivegeometries whereupon the respective plastic lens molds needed aresupplied to the production lines.

Known production lines using plastic lens molds are capable of producingonly one lot (a first lot) of contact lenses at a time, that is to saythe contact lenses produced at a time all have the same properties. Thismeans that the plastic lens molds supplied to the production line toproduce this one lot of contact lenses all have the same specifications(e.g. geometry, lens-forming material, etc.). These plastic lens moldsare actually supplied to the production line some time before startingproduction of this lot of contact lenses, since the environmentalconditions (room temperature, relative humidity, etc.) under which theplastic lens molds are produced may be different from the environmentalconditions under which the plastic lens molds are stored. Onceproduction is started, only contact lenses of this one lot areconcurrently produced in the production line.

If the contact lenses of another lot (a second lot) are to be producedsubsequently, i.e. contact lenses having a geometry different from thegeometry of the contact lenses of the first lot, any plastic lens moldsfor the production of contact lenses of the first lot must be removedfrom the production line, and plastic lens molds needed for theproduction of the second lot of contact lenses must be supplied. Again,the plastic lens molds needed for the production of the second lot ofcontact lenses are actually supplied some time before startingproduction of the second lot of contact lenses. Thereafter, only thecontact lenses of the second lot (again all having the same geometrywhich is, however, different from the geometry of the contact lenses ofthe first lot) are then concurrently produced.

Typically, there is a time interval (a gap) between the production ofthe last contact lens of the first lot and the production of the firstcontact lens of the second lot. Such a gap is indicative of the end of apreceding lot of contact lenses and the start of a subsequent lot ofcontact lenses.

The afore-described production lines using plastic lens molds sufferfrom a number of disadvantages. First of all, these production lines arecapable of concurrently producing only the same type of contact lens,i.e. the lens-forming material as well as the lens manufacturing processare identical for all contact lenses produced in the same productionline. Second, large stocks of plastic lens molds having differentgeometries must be kept at the contact lens manufacturer in order to atall times be in a position to produce the contact lenses of thedifferent geometries contained in a particular production order. In caseone of the geometries is not on stock, or the number of plastic lensmolds on stock having a particular geometry is lower than the numbercontained in the production order, the respective production ordercannot be executed. And third, the known production lines are not veryflexible. For example, in case a production order comprises contactlenses having different geometries (as this is practically always thecase), the contact lenses of the different geometries need to beproduced one after the other (by geometry). This may lead to aninefficient use of the production line, as the lot change is cumbersomeand time-consuming. Contact lenses using a different lens-formingmaterial must be produced on a different production line as theproduction process (e.g. curing parameters, chemical treatmentparameters, etc.) are different so that they cannot be produced by thesame production line. Also, the structural concept of such productionline is typically set up for the concurrent production of a particularnumber of contact lenses in the production line. However, the samestructural concept of the production line may not be used toconcurrently produce significantly higher or lower numbers of contactlenses in the production line without making fundamental changes to thestructural concept of the production line. On the other hand, in casetoric contact lenses (i.e. contact lenses having a rotationallynon-symmetrical geometry) are to be produced, for example, the number oftoric contact lenses to be produced is typically significantly lower(smaller lots) than the number of contact lenses having a rotationallysymmetrical geometry so that the number of contact lenses concurrentlyproduced in the production line may vary significantly.

It is therefore an object to suggest a production line and method usingplastic lens molds produced by injection-molding which overcome theafore-mentioned disadvantages and allow for a very efficient productionof ophthalmic lenses, in particular contact lenses such as soft contactlenses, for example silicone hydrogel contact lenses.

SUMMARY

In order to achieve the afore-mentioned object, the present inventionsuggests a production line and a method as specified by the features ofthe independent claim of the respective category. Advantageous aspectsof the production line and method according to the invention are thesubject of the respective dependent claims.

In one aspect, the invention relates to an automated production line forthe production of ophthalmic lenses, in particular contact lenses suchas soft contact lenses, for example silicone hydrogel contact lenses.The production line comprises:

a production line front end comprising:

-   -   a first injection-molding machine arranged in the production        line and configured to concurrently produce a scalable plurality        of front curve plastic lens molds within a predetermined cycle        time of less than ten seconds, in particular less than five        seconds, and preferably in two to five seconds;    -   a second injection-molding machine arranged in the production        line and configured to concurrently produce a scalable plurality        of base curve plastic lens molds corresponding to the scalable        plurality of front curve plastic lens molds within the same        predetermined cycle time of less than ten seconds, in particular        less than five seconds, and preferably in two to five seconds;    -   a casting module comprising        -   a filling station configured to dose a predetermined amount            of lens-forming material into a scalable predetermined            number of the front curve plastic lens molds,        -   a capping station configured to place a corresponding            scalable predetermined number of the base curve plastic lens            molds having the same age as the scalable predetermined            number of front curve plastic lens molds on the scalable            predetermined number of front curve plastic lens molds            containing the predetermined amount of lens-forming            material, to form a corresponding scalable predetermined            number of closed plastic lens molds containing the            lens-forming material;    -   a first transfer robot configured to transfer the corresponding        scalable predetermined number of closed plastic lens molds        containing the lens-forming material from the casting module to    -   a stacking module comprising        -   a plurality of lens mold trays, each lens mold tray            configured for being loaded with a multiple of the            corresponding scalable predetermined number of closed            plastic lens molds transferred by the first transfer robot            and containing the lens-forming material,        -   a stacking robot for stacking a scalable plurality of lens            mold trays loaded with the closed plastic lens molds            containing the lens-forming material to form a scalable            stack of lens mold trays;    -   a curing module comprising        -   a scalable plurality of ovens,        -   a stack handling robot,        -   wherein each individual oven of the scalable plurality of            ovens comprises a heatable chamber sized to accommodate a            said scalable stack of lens mold trays carrying the closed            plastic lens molds as well as a door for opening and closing            the chamber, to allow the stack handling robot to load a            said scalable stack of lens mold trays loaded with the            closed plastic lens molds containing the lens-forming            material into the heatable chamber when the door is open,        -   to allow the heatable chamber to be heated to a            predetermined temperature to effect curing of the            lens-forming material to form cured lenses in the closed            plastic lens molds on the individual lens mold trays of the            scalable stack when the door is closed,        -   and to allow the stack handling robot to remove a said            scalable stack of lens mold trays loaded with the closed            plastic lens molds containing the cured lenses from the            chamber when the door is open again, and;    -   a destacking module comprising a destacking robot configured to        destack the individual lens mold trays from the scalable stack        of lens mold trays removed from the chamber of a said oven for        allowing access to the closed plastic molds of each individual        lens mold tray;    -   a second transfer robot configured to transfer a predetermined        number of the closed plastic lens molds containing the cured        lenses from a said individual lens mold tray to    -   a demolding and delensing module comprising        -   a demolding station configured to open the predetermined            number of closed plastic lens molds by separating the base            curve plastic lens molds and the front curve plastic lens            molds from each other, with the cured lenses adhering either            to the base curve plastic lens molds or to the front curve            plastic lens molds,        -   a delensing station configured to release the cured lenses            from the base curve plastic lens molds or from the front            curve plastic lens molds,        -   a transfer gripper configured to transfer the cured lenses            released from the delensing station to a treatment carrier            tray;            a production line back end comprising:    -   a scalable treatment module for a liquid bath treatment of the        cured lenses carried by the treatment carrier tray to obtain the        ophthalmic lenses;    -   an inspection module for the inspection of the ophthalmic        lenses; and    -   a primary packaging module for packaging those ophthalmic lenses        that have successfully passed the inspection in primary        packaging containers.

According to an aspect of the production line according to theinvention,

-   -   the first injection-molding machine comprises a first tool half        and a second tool half, the first tool half and the second tool        half being movably arranged relative to one another between a        closed position for injection-molding of the front curve plastic        molds and an open position for removal of the molded front curve        plastic molds,    -   the first tool half comprises a first tooling plate to which a        scalable plurality of individual first sleeves are pre-mounted,        each of the individual first sleeves having an individual        optical tool insert mounted thereto that determines the shape of        a concave optical front surface of the front curve plastic lens        mold formed by the individual optical tool insert,    -   and the second tool half comprises a second tooling plate to        which a scalable plurality of individual second sleeves are        pre-mounted, the scalable plurality of individual second sleeves        corresponding to the scalable plurality of individual first        sleeves of the first tool half, each of the individual second        sleeves having an individual back piece insert mounted thereto        that determines the shape of a convex back surface of the front        curve plastic lens mold formed by the individual back piece        insert,    -   the first tool half further comprises a first slot accommodating        the first tooling plate, the first slot allowing to mount the        first tooling plate by sliding the first tooling plate into the        first slot and then fixing the first tooling plate, and allowing        to demount the first tooling plate by unfixing the first tooling        plate and then pulling the first tooling plate out of the first        slot,    -   and the second tool half further comprises a second slot        accommodating the second tooling plate, the second slot allowing        to mount the second tooling plate by sliding the second tooling        plate into the second slot and then fixing the second tooling        plate, and allowing to demount the second tooling plate by        unfixing the second tooling plate and then pulling the second        tooling plate out of the second slot;    -   and the second injection-molding machine comprises a third tool        half and a fourth tool half, the third tool half and the fourth        tool half being movably arranged relative to one another between        a closed position for injection-molding of the base curve        plastic lens molds and an open position for removal of the        molded base curve plastic lens molds,    -   the third tool half comprises a third tooling plate to which a        scalable plurality of individual third sleeves are pre-mounted,        each of the individual third sleeves having an individual        optical tool insert mounted thereto that determines the shape of        a convex optical front surface of the base curve plastic lens        mold formed by the individual optical tool insert,    -   and the fourth tool half comprises a fourth tooling plate to        which a scalable plurality of individual fourth sleeves are        pre-mounted, the scalable plurality of individual fourth sleeves        corresponding to the scalable plurality of individual third        sleeves of the third tool half, each of the individual fourth        sleeves having an individual back piece insert mounted thereto        that determines the shape of the concave back surface of the        base curve plastic lens mold formed by the individual back piece        insert,    -   the third tool half further comprises a third slot accommodating        the third tooling plate, the third slot allowing to mount the        third tooling plate by sliding the third tooling plate into the        third slot and then fixing the third tooling plate, and allowing        to demount the third tooling plate by unfixing the third tooling        plate and then pulling the third tooling plate out of the third        slot,    -   and the fourth tool half further comprises a fourth slot        accommodating the fourth tooling plate, the fourth slot allowing        to mount the fourth tooling plate by sliding the fourth tooling        plate into the fourth slot and then fixing the fourth tooling        plate, and allowing to demount the fourth tooling plate by        unfixing the fourth tooling plate and then pulling the fourth        tooling plate out of the fourth slot.

In accordance with a further aspect of the production line according tothe invention,

the first tool half comprises

a first fixed block comprising the first slot accommodating the firsttooling plate to which the scalable plurality of individual firstsleeves are pre-mounted,a first alignment plate releasably mounted to the first fixed block, thefirst alignment plate being provided with a scalable plurality ofseparate first through-openings corresponding to the scalable pluralityof individual first sleeves, with each separate first through-opening ofthe first alignment plate accommodating therein one individual firstsleeve of the scalable plurality of individual first sleeves foraligning the one individual first sleeve, the first alignment platebeing movable away from the first fixed block when being unmounted fromthe first fixed block to allow for sliding the first tooling plate intothe first slot or pulling the first tooling plate out of the first slot;

and the second tool half comprises

a second fixed block comprising a scalable plurality of hot runner pipesarranged therein for the injection of a thermoplastic material, the hotrunner pipes extending out of the second fixed block towards the firsttool half,a mounting plate releasably mounted to the second fixed block, themounting plate comprising the second slot accommodating the secondtooling plate with the pre-mounted scalable plurality of individualsecond sleeves, the mounting plate, the second tooling plate and theindividual second sleeves each comprising hot runner through-holesaccommodating therein the hot runner pipes extending out of the secondfixed block, the mounting plate being movable away from the second fixedblock when being unmounted from the second fixed block to allow forsliding the second tooling plate into the second slot or pulling thesecond tooling plate out of the second slot,a second alignment plate movably mounted towards and away from themounting plate, the second alignment plate being provided with ascalable plurality of separate second through-openings corresponding tothe scalable plurality of individual second sleeves, with each separatesecond through-opening accommodating therein one individual secondsleeve of the scalable plurality of individual second sleeves foraligning the one individual second sleeve.

In accordance with still a further aspect of the production lineaccording to the invention,

the third tool half comprises

a third fixed block comprising a scalable plurality of hot runner pipesarranged therein for the injection of a thermoplastic material, the hotrunner pipes extending out of the third fixed block towards the fourthtool half,a mounting plate releasably mounted to the third fixed block, themounting plate comprising the third slot accommodating the third toolingplate with the pre-mounted scalable plurality of individual thirdsleeves, the mounting plate, the third tooling plate and the individualthird sleeves each comprising hot runner through-holes accommodatingtherein the hot runner pipes extending out of the third fixed block, themounting plate being movable away from the third fixed block when beingunmounted from the third fixed block to allow for sliding the thirdtooling plate into the third slot or pulling the third tooling plate outof the third slot,a third alignment plate movably mounted towards and away from themounting plate, the third alignment plate being provided with a scalableplurality of separate third through-openings corresponding to thescalable plurality of individual third sleeves, with each separate thirdthrough-opening accommodating therein one individual third sleeve of thescalable plurality of individual third sleeves for aligning the oneindividual third sleeve;

and the fourth tool half comprises

a fourth fixed block comprising the fourth slot accommodating the fourthtooling plate to which the scalable plurality of individual fourthsleeves are pre-mounted,a fourth alignment plate releasably mounted to the fourth fixed block,the fourth alignment plate being provided with a scalable plurality ofseparate fourth through-openings corresponding to the scalable pluralityof individual fourth sleeves, with each separate fourth through-openingof the fourth alignment plate accommodating therein one individualfourth sleeve of the scalable plurality of individual fourth sleeves foraligning the one individual fourth sleeve, the fourth alignment platebeing movable away from the fourth fixed block when being unmounted fromthe fourth fixed block to allow for sliding the fourth tooling plateinto the fourth slot or pulling the fourth tooling plate out of thefourth slot.

According to yet a further aspect of the production line according tothe invention, the production line front end further comprises:

a front curve plastic lens mold buffer module arranged between the firstinjection-molding machine and the casting module, the front curveplastic lens mold buffer module being configured to store the frontcurve plastic lens molds removed from the first injection-moldingmachine for a first predetermined cooling time period at predeterminedenvironmental conditions until the front curve plastic molds aretransferred to the casting module;a base curve plastic lens mold buffer module arranged between the secondinjection-molding machine and the casting module, the base curve plasticlens mold buffer module being configured to store the base curve plasticlens molds removed from the second injection-molding machine for asecond predetermined cooling time period at the same predeterminedenvironmental conditions as the front curve plastic lens molds until thebase curve plastic lens molds are transferred to the casting module;

wherein the casting module is configured to have the same predeterminedenvironmental conditions as have the base curve plastic mold buffermodule and the front curve plastic mold buffer module, and wherein thecapping station is configured to place only such base curve plastic lensmolds onto the front curve plastic lens molds for which the same timeperiod has elapsed between the removal of the front curve plastic lensmolds from the first injection-molding machine and the removal of thebase curve plastic lens molds from the second injection-molding machine.

According to a further aspect of the production line according to theinvention, the casting module further comprises a toric angleverification station arranged downstream of the capping station, thetoric angle verification station comprising a camera.

In accordance with still a further aspect of the production lineaccording to the invention, the demolding and delensing module comprisesone of

a front curve demolding and delensing branch for opening the closedplastic lens molds containing the cured lenses and for picking the curedlenses up from the front curve plastic lens molds;a base curve demolding and delensing branch for opening the closedplastic lens molds containing the cured lenses and for picking the curedlenses up from a temporary carrier;

-   -   wherein the front curve demolding and delensing branch comprises    -   a lens pre-release station comprising mechanical stamps for        pressing against the back surface of the base curve plastic lens        molds to release the cured lenses from the base curve plastic        lens molds,    -   the demolding station for opening the plastic lens molds, and    -   the delensing station, the delensing station comprising pins for        pressing against the back surfaces of the front curve plastic        lens molds to release the cured lenses from the front curve        plastic lens molds, to allow the released cured lenses to be        transferred by the transfer gripper to the treatment carrier        tray;    -   wherein the base curve demolding and delensing branch comprises    -   the demolding station for opening the closed plastic lens molds,        the demolding station comprising pins for pressing against the        back surfaces of the front curve plastic lens molds to release        the cured lenses from the front curve plastic lens molds;    -   the delensing station comprising receiver grippers arranged        beneath the base curve plastic lens molds and ultrasonic horns        for applying ultrasonic waves to the back surfaces of the base        curve plastic lens molds to release the cured lenses from the        base curve plastic lens molds and allow them to be received by        the receiver grippers arranged beneath the base curve plastic        lens molds, to allow the received cured lenses to be transferred        by the transfer gripper to the treatment carrier tray.

According to still a further aspect of the production line according tothe invention, the treatment module of the production line back endcomprises:

a treatment carrier tray stacking station for stacking a scalableplurality of individual treatment carrier trays one above the other toform a scalable stack of treatment carrier trays carrying the curedlenses;a scalable plurality of treatment baths, each treatment bath of thescalable plurality of treatment baths comprising a tank sized toaccommodate a said scalable stack of treatment carrier trays andcontaining a treatment liquid selected from the group of water (bufferedor unbuffered), an organic extraction liquid, a coating liquid, ormixtures thereof;a handling robot configured to pick the scalable stack of treatmentcarrier trays and to place the said scalable stack of treatment carriertrays into a first treatment bath of the scalable plurality of treatmentbaths for a predetermined period of time, further configured to removethe said scalable stack of treatment carrier trays from the firsttreatment bath after the predetermined period of time and lift thescalable stack of treatment carrier trays to a position above the tankof the first treatment bath, further configured to tilt the liftedscalable stack of treatment carrier trays about a pivot shaft with thetilted scalable stack of treatment carrier trays still being arrangedabove the tank of the first treatment bath to allow the treatment liquidremaining in the scalable stack of treatment carrier trays to flow backfrom the tilted scalable stack of treatment carrier trays into the tankof the first treatment bath, further configured to tilt the liftedscalable stack of treatment carrier trays back, and further configuredto move the scalable stack of treatment carrier trays from the firsttreatment bath to a second treatment bath of the plurality of treatmentbaths or to an ophthalmic lens transfer station where the individualtreatment carrier trays of the scalable stack of treatment carrier traysare destacked and the ophthalmic lenses obtained by the liquid bathtreatment of the cured lenses are transferred from the destackedindividual treatment carrier trays to the inspection module.

In accordance with another aspect of the production line according tothe invention, the inspection module of the production line back endcomprises:

a closed-loop rail having a geometric shape that can be freelydetermined so as to fit in the space defined by a room where theclosed-loop rail is arranged,a plurality of self-driving shuttles arranged on the closed-loop rail,each self-driving shuttle carrying a plurality of inspection cuvettesarranged thereon;a plurality of stations arranged along the closed-loop rail, theplurality of stations comprising the following individual stationsarranged along the closed-loop rail in the following sequence

-   -   a cuvette filling station configured to fill the plurality of        cuvettes with water, the plurality of cuvettes being arranged on        a said shuttle in a handling position,    -   a lens insertion station configured to insert the ophthalmic        lenses transferred from the treatment module into the plurality        of filled cuvettes arranged on the shuttles, one said ophthalmic        lens into one said cuvette,    -   a first cuvette tilting station configured to tilt the plurality        of cuvettes arranged on the shuttle from the handling position        to an inspection position,    -   a lens inspection station configured to inspect the ophthalmic        lenses in the plurality of cuvettes,    -   a first cuvette tilting-back station for tilting the plurality        of cuvettes containing the inspected ophthalmic lenses from the        inspection position back to the handling position,    -   an ophthalmic lens transfer station for transferring those        inspected ophthalmic lenses that have successfully passed the        inspection to the primary packaging module,    -   a cuvette cleaning station for sucking the water (and possibly        any ophthalmic lenses that have remained in the cuvettes, for        example ophthalmic lenses that have failed the inspection) from        the plurality of cuvettes.

In accordance with still a further aspect of the production lineaccording to the invention, the inspection module further comprises thefollowing stations arranged between the lens insertion station and thefirst cuvette tilting station:

-   -   an initial cuvette tilting station for tilting the cuvettes        containing the ophthalmic lenses inserted in the lens insertion        station to the inspection position,    -   an inversion detection station configured to detect whether or        not an ophthalmic lens contained in the cuvette is inverted,    -   an initial tilting-back station for tilting the cuvettes back to        the handling position,    -   a re-inverting station for re-inverting ophthalmic lenses which        are inverted.

Another aspect of the invention relates to a method for the automatedproduction of ophthalmic lenses, in particular contact lenses such assoft contact lenses, for example silicone hydrogel contact lenses. Themethod is capable of being carried out in a production line according tothe invention and comprises the steps of:

concurrently producing a scalable plurality of front curve plastic lensmolds by injection-molding the front curve plastic lens molds in theproduction line within a predetermined cycle time of less than tenseconds, in particular less than five seconds, and preferably in two tofive seconds;concurrently producing a scalable plurality of base curve plastic lensmolds corresponding to the scalable plurality of front curve plasticlens molds by injection-molding the base curve plastic lens molds in theproduction line within the same predetermined cycle time of less thanten seconds, in particular less than five seconds, and preferably in twoto five seconds;filling a predetermined amount of a lens-forming material into ascalable predetermined number of the front curve plastic lens molds;placing a corresponding scalable predetermined number of base curveplastic lens molds having the same age as the scalable predeterminednumber of front curve plastic lens molds onto the front curve plasticlens molds containing the lens-forming material to form a correspondingscalable number of closed plastic lens molds containing the lens-formingmaterial;transferring the corresponding scalable number of closed plastic lensmolds containing the lens-forming material and placing them onto a lensmold tray;stacking a plurality of lens mold trays loaded with the closed plasticlens molds containing the lens-forming material to form a scalable stackof lens mold trays;loading the scalable stack of lens mold trays loaded with the plasticlens molds containing the lens-forming material into a heatable chamberof an oven of a scalable plurality of ovens;heating the chamber of the oven to a predetermined temperature to effectcuring of the lens-forming material to form cured lenses in the closedplastic lens molds;removing a said scalable stack of lens mold trays loaded with the closedplastic lens molds containing the cured lenses from the chamber;destacking the individual trays from the scalable stack of lens moldtrays removed from the chamber for allowing access to the closed plasticmolds of each individual lens mold tray;transferring a predetermined number of the closed plastic lens moldscontaining the cured lenses from a said individual lens mold tray inorder for the closed molds being opened and the cured lenses beingreleased;opening the closed lens molds by separating the base curve plastic lensmolds and the front curve plastic lens molds from each other;releasing the cured lenses from the base curve plastic lens molds or thefront curve plastic lens molds;transferring the released cured lenses to a treatment carrier tray;treating the cured lenses in a treatment bath to obtain the ophthalmiclenses;inspecting the ophthalmic lenses; andpackaging those ophthalmic lenses that have successfully passed theinspection in primary packaging containers.

In accordance with one aspect of the method according to the invention,ophthalmic lenses having different properties are concurrentlymanufactured in the production line.

In accordance with a further aspect of the method according to theinvention, in case the ophthalmic lenses to be manufactured by theproduction line are different from those presently manufactured by theproduction line according to the invention, at least one of the firsttooling plate, the second tooling plate, the third tooling plate and thefourth tooling plate is pulled out of the first slot, the second slot,the third slot or the fourth slot, respectively, and at least one of anew first tooling plate, a new second tooling plate, a new third toolingplate and a new fourth tooling plate having a scalable plurality ofoptical tool inserts or back pieces mounted to the respective firstsleeves, second sleeves, third sleeves and fourth sleeves pre-mountedthereto is slid into at least one of the first slot, the second slot,the third slot and the fourth slot. Inserting a ‘new’ tooling plate(first, second third or fourth) also includes cases in which toricophthalmic lenses are produced and the only parameter that changes isthe angle of the toric axes. In such instance, the respective toolingplate may be removed from the respective slot, the angle of the toricaxes may be adjusted to the desired angle, and then the same toolingplate with the adjusted angle of the toric axes is re-inserted (stillbeing ‘new’ in the sense that the parameters of the ophthalmic lensesproduced using this ‘new’ tooling plate are different from theparameters of the ophthalmic lenses produced before).

According to still a further aspect of the method according to theinvention, the toric angle of the base curve plastic molds and the frontcurve plastic molds relative to each other is verified prior totransferring the corresponding scalable number of closed plastic lensmolds containing the lens-forming material and placing them onto a lensmold tray.

In accordance with yet a further aspect of the method according to theinvention, the method further comprises the steps of

prior to treating the cured lenses in the treatment bath, stacking aplurality of individual treatment carrier trays one above the other toform a scalable stack of treatment carrier trays carrying the curedlenses;picking the scalable stack of treatment carrier trays and placing thescalable stack of treatment carrier trays into a first treatment bathfor a predetermined period of time, the first treatment bath containinga treatment liquid selected from the group of water (buffered orunbuffered), an organic extraction liquid, a coating liquid, or mixturesthereof;removing the scalable stack of treatment carrier trays from the firsttreatment bath after the predetermined period of time and lifting thescalable stack of treatment carrier trays to a position above the firsttreatment bath, and then pivoting the scalable stack about a pivot shaftwith the scalable stack still being positioned above the first treatmentbath to allow the treatment liquid remaining in the scalable stack toflow back into the first treatment bath, thereafter pivoting thescalable stack back;moving the scalable stack of treatment carrier trays to a secondtreatment bath and placing the scalable stack into the second treatmentbath, or moving the scalable stack of treatment carrier trays to anophthalmic lens transfer station and destacking the individual treatmentcarrier trays and transferring the ophthalmic lenses contained in anindividual treatment carrier tray into inspection cuvettes forinspection of the ophthalmic lenses, one said ophthalmic lens into onecuvette.

The production line and method according to the invention have a numberof advantages which are discussed in the following, without thediscussed advantages being exhaustive.

First of all, depending on the number of plastic lens molds concurrentlyproduced by the first and second injection-molding machines arranged inthe production line during one cycle, it is possible to concurrentlyproduce the same number of different lots of ophthalmic lenses (thisbeing the maximum number of different lots) in the production line, asthis number of different plastic lens molds is then repeatedly producedduring each cycle. For example, in case of four, eight, sixteen orthirty-two plastic lens molds being produced by the first and secondinjection-molding machines during one cycle, it is possible to produceup to four, eight, sixteen or thirty-two different lots of ophthalmiclenses at maximum (with ophthalmic lenses of different lots beingdifferent in at least one parameter, e.g. front curve or base curvegeometry, diopters, toric parameters, rotational stabilization features,etc.). Of course, concurrently producing a lower number of differentlots is also possible. Production is highly effective since the cycletime of each cycle may be as low as two to five seconds, for exampletwo, three, four, or five seconds, or any other cycle time between twoand five seconds.

It is also possible to generally produce varying numbers of plastic lensmolds (e.g. four, eight, sixteen or thirty-two) during one cycle,depending on how the first and second injection-molding machines areconfigured. In any event, however, the first and secondinjection-molding machines produce the same number of front curveplastic lens molds and base curve plastic lens molds within one cycle(regardless of whether four, eight, sixteen or thirty-two), as in thecapping station the base curve plastic lens molds placed on the frontcurve plastic lens molds must ‘have the same age’. However, this doesnot change anything with respect to the structural concept of theproduction line as a whole.

The capping station of the production line according to the invention isconfigured to only place base curve plastic lens molds having the sameage as the front curve plastic lens molds onto the front curve plasticlens molds containing the lens-forming material. The term ‘having thesame age’ in this regard means that after being produced by the firstand second injection-molding machines, the base curve plastic lens moldsand the front curve plastic lens molds removed from the first and secondinjection-molding machines are exposed to the same environmentalconditions (temperature, humidity, etc.) for the same period of timeuntil the base curve plastic lens molds are placed on the front curveplastic lens molds in the capping station. In particular, thetemperature of the front curve plastic lens molds and of the base curveplastic lens molds placed thereon is the same and is sufficiently low toreliably avoid an unwanted thermally initiated start of the curingprocess of the lens-forming material contained in the front curveplastic lens molds. The term ‘the same age’ therefore mandatorilyincludes that both the period of time during which the front curveplastic lens molds removed from the first injection-molding machine areexposed to the predetermined environmental conditions and the period oftime during which the base curve plastic lens molds removed from thesecond injection-molding machines are exposed to the same predeterminedenvironmental conditions, are in any event long enough to allow thefront curve plastic lens molds and base curve plastic lens molds to cooldown to a temperature at which an unwanted thermally initiated start ofthe curing process of the lens-forming material is reliably avoided.This period of time may depend on the lens-forming material used (sothat it may be at least some minutes or more, for example five minutesor more), and may further depend on the plastic material used forinjection-molding of the front curve and base curve plastic lens molds.Ideally, the period of time during which the front curve plastic lensmolds removed from the first injection-molding machine are exposed tothe predetermined environmental conditions is exactly the same as thetime period during which the base curve plastic lens molds removed fromthe second injection-molding machine and their exposure to the samepredetermined environmental conditions. However, the set-up of theproduction line can also be chosen such that the period of time duringwhich the front curve plastic lens molds removed from the firstinjection-molding machine are exposed to the predetermined environmentalconditions and the period of time during which the base curve plasticlens molds removed from the second injection-molding machine are exposedto the same predetermined environmental conditions are different by upto thirty-five seconds during normal operation. In particular, thedifference may be an integer multiple of the cycle time. Even in casethere is a short malfunction of the production line for a period of timewhich may be up to three minutes or a few seconds more, so that thedifference of the period of time the front curve plastic molds removedfrom the first injection-molding machine are exposed to thepredetermined environmental conditions and the period of time the basecurve plastic lens molds removed from the second injection-moldingmachine are exposed to the same predetermined environmental conditionsis different by this period of time, this is still tolerable and iscovered by the term ‘the same age’. However, in any event the mandatorycondition still applicable is that, regardless of the magnitude of thedifference in the period of time, the temperature of both the frontcurve plastic lens molds and the base curve plastic lens molds must besufficiently low to reliably avoid an unwanted thermally initiated startof curing of the lens-forming material that may be caused by too high atemperature of the front curve plastic lens molds or the base curveplastic lens molds. Ideally, however, the set-up of the production lineis such that this period of time is exactly the same for the front curveplastic lens molds and the base curve plastic lens molds.

This is possible since the injection-molding machines are arranged inthe production line itself (they form components of the production line)so that the concept of the production line allows the base curve plasticlens molds and the front curve plastic lens molds to be exposed to thesame environmental conditions for the same period of time prior to beingmated in the capping station. Since all base curve plastic lens moldsplaced on all front curve plastic lens molds in the capping stationalways have the same age, deviations of the geometry of the plastic lensmolds caused by different temperatures of the plastic lens molds areavoided and a constant high quality of the ophthalmic lenses producedwith the aid of such plastic lens molds is obtained. This may beachieved, for example, with the aid of a front curve plastic mold buffermodule and a base curve plastic mold buffer module arranged between thefirst injection-molding machine and the casting module and the secondinjection-molding machine and the casting module, respectively, with theenvironmental conditions (temperature, humidity, etc.) being the same inthe front curve and base curve plastic mold buffer modules and in thecasting module.

As regards scalability, the predetermined number of front curve plasticlens molds into which the predetermined amount of lens-forming materialis dosed in the filling station may vary. For example, this may meanthat lens-forming material is concurrently dosed into four, eight,sixteen or thirty-two front curve lens molds, and that the correspondingnumber of base curve plastic lens molds is then placed on the frontcurve plastic lens molds to form the closed plastic lens molds(depending on how many front curve plastic lens molds and base curveplastic lens molds are concurrently produced by the first and secondinjection-molding machines), since in the capping station all base curveplastic lens molds placed on all front curve plastic lens molds alwaysmust have the same age. However, again this does not change anythingwith respect to the structural concept of the production line as awhole.

The closed plastic lens molds (containing lens-forming material)obtained by placing the base curve plastic lens molds on the front curveplastic lens molds in the casting module are then transferred (e.g. by atransfer robot) to a stacking module where the closed plastic lens moldsare placed on a lens mold tray, with a plurality of such lens mold traysloaded with closed plastic lens molds then being stacked one above theother (e.g. by a stacking robot or other stacking mechanism) to form astack of lens mold trays.

Again, as regards scalability the plurality of lens mold trays stackedone above the other may vary, depending on the number of lenses to beproduced. For example, sixty-four (i.e. eight times eight) or twohundred and fifty-six (sixteen times sixteen) closed plastic lens moldsmay be placed on one lens mold tray, and stacks containing up totwenty-four such lens mold trays may be formed. The maximum number oflens mold trays is limited by the size of the chamber of the curing oveninto which the stacks of lens mold trays are to be placed for curing ofthe lens-forming material. However, in case of smaller lots the stackmay contain less than this maximum number of lens mold trays. And onceagain, this does not change anything with respect to the structuralconcept of the production line as a whole.

A such stack of lens mold trays is then placed into a heatable chamberof an oven (e.g. with the aid of a stack handling robot), this heatablechamber being sized to accommodate such a stack of lens mold trays. Theoven also comprises a door that can be opened and closed to allow thestack of lens mold trays loaded with plastic lens molds containing thelens-forming material to be placed into the heatable chamber and tosubsequently heat the heatable chamber to a predetermined temperature toeffect curing of the lens-forming material contained in the plastic lensmolds to form cured lenses. The heatable chamber of the oven may beheated to different temperature levels for predetermined periods oftime, or may be heated to one temperature level only for a predeterminedperiod of time. The one temperature level or the different temperaturelevels may depend on the type of lens-forming material used. Also, thepredetermined period of time or the predetermined periods of time at thedifferent temperature levels may depend on the lens-forming materialactually used.

Once the stack of lens mold trays has been accommodated in the heatablechamber, the heatable chamber of the oven may be purged with an inertgas until a predetermined residual low level of oxygen in the heatablechamber has been reached. Oxygen is unwanted in the heatable chamber asit may inhibit the polymerization and/or crosslinking reaction of thelens-forming material contained in the closed plastic lens molds. Therespective residual low level of oxygen allowed may depend on thelens-forming material used and may be different for differentlens-forming materials. After the lens-forming material has been curedat the one or more temperature levels for the one or more predeterminedperiods of time, the door of the oven is opened again and the stack oflens mold trays loaded with the closed plastic lens molds now containingcured lenses is removed from the heatable chamber. The stacking of thelens mold trays and the curing of a stack of lens mold trays isadvantageous as it renders the production line and method of theinvention efficient, since large numbers of ophthalmic lenses can beconcurrently formed in the oven.

Once the lens-forming material has been cured at the one or moretemperature levels for the one or more predetermined periods of time,the stack of lens mold trays loaded with closed plastic lens molds nowcontaining cured lenses may be allowed to cool down for anotherpredetermined period of time in the heatable chamber before the door ofthe oven is opened and the stack is removed. During the cooling-downperiod, it is no longer necessary to maintain the residual low level ofoxygen in the heatable chamber anymore since cured lenses (rather thanlens-forming material) are now contained in the closed plastic lensmolds.

Providing a plurality of such ovens is advantageous as the thermalcuring process (including the subsequent cooling-down) may take severalhours, for example, so that during curing of the lens-forming materialcontained in the plastic lens molds on the trays of one stack in theheatable chamber of one of the plurality of ovens, subsequently formedother stacks of lens mold trays containing lens-forming material can beplaced into the heatable chamber of other ones of the plurality ofovens. This allows for a continuous operation of the production line.

With respect to scalability, the number of ovens actually provided inthe production line may vary. The higher the number of ovens provided,the more lenses can be concurrently produced in the production line, asnew stacks of lens mold trays can be placed in the heatable chambers ofadditional ovens while stacks of lens mold trays that have been placedin the curing chambers of other ovens earlier continue to remain thereuntil curing is completed. Thus, the total number of lenses concurrentlyproduced in the production line may be increased or decreased withoutchanging anything with respect to the structural concept of theproduction line as a whole.

After the cooling-down period, the stack of lens mold trays is removedfrom the heatable chamber of the oven (by opening the door of the oven)and is transferred to a destacking module. In the destacking module, theindividual lens mold trays are destacked (e.g. by a destacking robot orother suitable destacking mechanism) for allowing access to the closedplastic lens molds of each individual lens mold tray, each such closedplastic lens mold containing a cured lens.

After destacking, the plastic lens molds are transferred (e.g. by atransfer robot) to a demolding and delensing module. The demolding anddelensing module comprises a demolding station in which the base curveplastic lens mold and the front curve plastic lens mold of a closed lensmold are demolded. After demolding, the cured lens may adhere either tothe base curve plastic lens mold or the front curve plastic lens mold,from which the lens is then released in a delensing station of thedemolding and delensing module. The released cured lens is thentransferred from the delensing station to a treatment carrier tray (e.g.by means of a suitable transfer gripper).

The demolding and delensing module may comprise one or both of a basecurve demolding and delensing branch and a front curve demolding anddelensing branch. Depending on the geometrical shape and other featuresof the base curve plastic lens mold and the front curve plastic lensmold, and further depending on the lens-forming material used, the curedlens may tend to adhere either to the base curve plastic lens mold or tothe front curve plastic lens mold. As different plastic lens molds anddifferent lens-forming materials may be used in the production lineaccording to the invention, both the base curve demolding and delensingbranch as well as the front curve demolding and delensing branch may beprovided in the production line. Alternatively, only one of them may beprovided.

After demolding and delensing, the cured lenses are transferred to atreatment module where the cured lenses are treated in one or moreliquid baths (extracted and/or coated, as well as hydrated). As regardsscalability, depending on the type of lenses produced in the productionline (different lens-forming materials or only one lens-formingmaterial) and the number of lenses to be concurrently produced in theproduction line, the treatment module may be scalable as well. Thismeans that certain types of baths may not be provided in the extractionmodule at all (as the lens-forming material used in the specificproduction line does not require this), or that the number of liquidbaths may be reduced since the number of lenses concurrently produced bythe production line only requires a minimum number of liquid baths.However, the reduction or the increase in the number and type of liquidbaths in the treatment module does not change anything with respect tothe structural concept of the production line as a whole.

An important advantage of the production line according to the inventionis the capability to quickly perform lot changes, despite the plasticlens molds being produced in the production line itself. This may beachieved by a particular construction of the first and second toolhalves of the first injection-molding machine (for producing the frontcurve plastic lens molds) and of the third and second tool halves of thesecond injection molding machine (for producing the base curve plasticlens molds).

As regards the first injection-molding machine, this particularconstruction comprises a first tooling plate to which a scalableplurality of individual first sleeves are pre-mounted. Each of theindividual first sleeves has an individual optical tool insert mountedthereto, and this optical tool insert determines the shape of theconcave optical front surface of the front curve plastic lens moldformed by the optical tool insert. The first tool half further comprisesa first slot accommodating the first tooling plate and allowing to mountthe first tooling plate by sliding the first tooling plate into thefirst slot and then fixing the first tooling plate. Demounting of thefirst tooling plate is possible by unfixing the first tooling plate andthen pulling the first tooling plate out of the first slot.

Similarly, this particular construction comprises a second tooling plateto which a scalable plurality of individual second sleeves arepre-mounted, with the scalable plurality of individual second sleevescorresponding to the scalable plurality of individual first sleeves ofthe first tooling plate. Each of the second sleeves has an individualback piece insert mounted thereto, and this back piece insert determinesthe shape of the convex back surface of the front curve plastic lensmold formed by the back piece insert. The second tool half furthercomprises a second slot accommodating the second tooling plate andallowing to mount the second tooling plate by sliding the second toolingplate into the second slot and then fixing the second tooling plate.Demounting of the second tooling plate is possible by unfixing thesecond tooling plate and then pulling the second tooling plate out ofthe second slot.

The first and second tooling plates with the first and secondpre-mounted sleeves and the optical tool inserts and the back pieceinserts mounted thereto can be set up at a location remote from theproduction line, so that at the time a lot change is to be performed,the production line must be stopped. Then, the first and second toolingplates mounted to the first and second tool halves of the firstinjection-molding machine can be unfixed and pulled out of the first andsecond slots of the first and second tool halves, respectively.Thereafter, the new first and second tooling plates which have been setup remote from the production line (and which are thus ready for use)can be mounted to the first and second tool halves, respectively, bysliding the new first and second tooling plates into the first andsecond slots of the first and second tool halves and then fixing them.Thus, the time needed to perform a lot change is very short, as themounting and unmounting of the tooling plates can be quickly and easilyperformed.

As regards the second injection-molding machine, this particularconstruction comprises a third tooling plate to which a scalableplurality of individual third sleeves are pre-mounted. Each of theindividual third sleeves has an individual optical tool insert mountedthereto, and this optical tool insert determines the shape of the convexoptical front surface of the base curve plastic lens mold formed by theoptical tool insert. The third tool half further comprises a third slotaccommodating the third tooling plate and allowing to mount the thirdtooling plate by sliding the third tooling plate into the third slot andthen fixing the third tooling plate. Demounting of the third toolingplate is possible by unfixing the third tooling plate and then pullingthe third tooling plate out of the first slot.

Similarly, this particular construction comprises a fourth tooling plateto which a scalable plurality of individual fourth sleeves arepre-mounted, with the scalable plurality of individual fourth sleevescorresponding to the scalable plurality of individual third sleeves ofthe third tooling plate. Each of the fourth sleeves has an individualback piece insert mounted thereto, and this back piece insert determinesthe shape of the concave back surface of the base curve plastic lensmold formed by the back piece insert. The fourth tool half furthercomprises a fourth slot accommodating the fourth tooling plate andallowing to mount the fourth tooling plate by sliding the fourth toolingplate into the fourth slot and then fixing the fourth tooling plate.Demounting of the fourth tooling plate is possible by unfixing thefourth tooling plate and then pulling the fourth tooling plate out ofthe fourth slot.

Also here, the third and fourth tooling plates with the third and fourthpre-mounted sleeves and the optical tool inserts and the back pieceinserts mounted thereto can be set up at a location remote from theproduction line, so that at the time a lot change is to be performed,the production line must be stopped. Then, the third and fourth toolingplates mounted to the third and fourth tool halves of the secondinjection-molding machine can be unfixed and pulled out of the third andfourth slots of the third and fourth tool halves, respectively.Thereafter, the new third and fourth tooling plates which have been setup remote from the production line (and which are thus ready for use)can be mounted to the third and fourth tool halves, respectively, bysliding the new third and fourth tooling plates into the third andfourth slots of the third and fourth tool halves and then fixing them.Thus, the time needed to perform a lot change is very short, as themounting and unmounting of the tooling plates can be quickly and easilyperformed.

Overall, pulling a tooling plate out of a slot of a tool half andthereafter inserting another pre-set tooling plate into the slot of thesaid tool half is a simple constructional option that allows for a quicklot change. The tooling plates can be properly set-up at a locationremote from the production line, so that only the tooling plate to bereplaced can be unfixed and pulled out of the slot, and then the newtooling plate can be inserted into the slot and fixed. Thereafter,production can be resumed.

As regards scalability, the number of individual first, second, thirdand fourth sleeves mounted to the first, second, third and fourthtooling plates may vary so that it is possible to concurrently producedifferent numbers of front curve and base curve plastic lens molds inthe first and second injection-molding machines during one cycle. Forexample, four, eight, sixteen or thirty-two front curve and base curveplastic lens molds may be concurrently produced in the first and secondinjection-molding machines in one cycle. Regardless how many front curveplastic lens molds and base curve plastic lens molds are actuallyproduced during one cycle, the number of front curve plastic lens moldsproduced by the first injection-molding machine during one cycle and thenumber of base curve plastic lens molds produced by the second injectionmolding machine during one cycle are identical.

This holds, too, in case one tool half (i.e. the first tool half of thefirst injection-molding machine and the fourth tool half of the secondinjection-molding machine) comprises a fixed block having the slotaccommodating the tooling plate to which the scalable plurality ofindividual sleeves are pre-mounted, and a corresponding alignment platewhich is releasably mounted to the fixed block. The alignment platecomprises a corresponding scalable plurality of through-openingsaccommodating the sleeves with the optical tool inserts or back pieceinserts, respectively. Accordingly, when the alignment plate is mountedto the respective fixed block, the sleeves (with the optical toolinserts or back piece inserts mounted thereto) are individually alignedby the respective through-holes provided in the alignment plate. Inaddition, since this tool half does not comprise the hot runner pipesfor injecting the hot flowable thermoplastic material, the temperatureof the components of this tool half (first or fourth) is not critical,so that it is easily possible to change the tooling plate and thusperform the lot change.

With respect to the other tool half (second tool half of the firstinjection-molding machine and third tool half of the secondinjection-molding machine) this is a little bit different, as this moldhalf also comprises the scalable plurality of hot runner pipes throughwhich the hot flowable thermoplastic material is injected. These hotrunner pipes must be maintained at a high temperature, since in casethey would have to be cooled down to a temperature at which the toolingplate change may be performed, this would take an extended period oftime which would render a lot change inefficient.

Therefore, the construction of the other tool half (second and third)comprises a fixed block accommodating therein the scalable plurality ofhot runner pipes which extend out of this fixed block towards the toolhalf (first or fourth) not having the hot runner pipes arranged therein.A mounting plate is releasably mounted to the fixed block, and thismounting plate comprises the slot for slidingly inserting the toolingplate and for pulling the tooling plate out. The mounting plate, thetooling plate and the sleeves mounted thereto comprise hot runnerthrough-holes accommodating therein the hot runner pipes. To perform alot change, the mounting plate is released from the fixed block and ismoved away from the fixed block, so that the hot runner pipes arrangedin the fixed block do no longer extend into the through-holes of thetooling plate and the sleeves mounted thereto. The tooling plate to bereplaced can then be pulled out of the slot of the mounting plate andthe new pre-set tooling plate can be slidingly inserted into the slot.During this exchange of the tooling plate, the hot runner pipes can bekept at high temperature and do not have to cool down during thistooling plate change. An alignment plate is movably mounted to themounting plate and has a scalable plurality of through-openingscorresponding to the scalable plurality of sleeves mounted to thetooling plate, for accommodating the sleeves of the tooling plate. Likefor the other tool half, the alignment plate individually aligns thesleeves mounted to the tooling plates. However, unlike the alignmentplate of the other tool half (first or fourth), the alignment plate ofthis tool half (second or third) is movably mounted to the mountingplate. In particular, the alignment plate is biased a short distanceaway from the mounting plate, so that upon moving the tool halves of therespective (first or second) injection-molding machine away from eachother the alignment plate is moved away from the mounting plate by apredetermined short distance. This helps to make sure that the plasticlens molds adhere to that tool half not having the alignment platemovably mounted thereto, since upon moving the tool halves of therespective (first or second) injection-molding machine away from eachother, the movably mounted alignment plate strips the plastic lens moldoff of this tool half and thus makes the plastic lens mold adhere to theother tool half (first or fourth).

Arranging front curve plastic lens mold and base plastic lens moldbuffers between the first and second injection-molding machine and thecasting module, and having the same environmental conditions(temperature, humidity, etc.) in these buffers as in the casting modulehelps making sure that the base curve plastic lens molds placed on thefront curve plastic lens molds in the casting module have been exposedto the same environmental conditions for the same period of time, sothat the front curve plastic lens molds containing the lens-formingmaterial and the base curve plastic lens molds placed thereon always‘have the same age’ (i.e. have been exposed to the same environmentalconditions for the same period of time after being removed from therespective injection-molding machine).

The casting module may comprise a toric angle verification station thatcomprises a camera. In case the front curve plastic lens molds and thebase curve plastic lens molds used for producing toric ophthalmic lenseshave features that allow the determination of the rotational orientationof the respective front curve plastic lens mold and the respective basecurve plastic lens mold, it is possible to verify the correct rotationalorientation of these molds (and thus of the ‘toric’ features of theophthalmic lens produced therewith).

The use of scalable stacks of treatment carrier trays in the treatmentmodule also renders the production line more efficient, as large andvariable numbers of ophthalmic lenses can be treated in the liquid bathssimultaneously. In case a scalable plurality of baths of each type areprovided in the treatment module, it is possible to concurrently processmore than one stack in the treatment module, so that a continuousoperation of the production line is possible without any time gaps inwhich no lenses are produced. Also, it is possible to produce ophthalmiclenses from different lens-forming materials. And although this mayrequire different curing times, curing temperatures, allowed levels ofresidual oxygen in the ovens, and although it may require differenttypes of liquids in the treatment baths of the treatment module, thegeneral concept of the production line remains the same. By way ofexample, some lens-forming materials may require organic extractionliquids for the extraction while other lens-forming material may onlyrequire extraction in water. Further by way of example, somelens-forming materials may require a coating to be applied to the lens,while other lens-forming materials may not require such coating or evenprohibit the application of a coating to the lens.

In any event, for the subsequent inspection of the ophthalmic lensescarried by the individual treatment carrier trays, at the end of thetreatment module the individual treatment carrier trays of a stack needto be unstacked to allow access to the individual ophthalmic lensescarried by each individual treatment carrier tray.

Another advantageous aspect of the production line according to theinvention is that the geometrical shape of the closed-loop rail of theinspection module on which the self-driving shuttles are arranged, canbe freely determined (chosen). Accordingly, the geometrical shape of theclosed-loop rail can be fit to the available space in the room or hallwhere the production line is to be arranged. The various stations of theinspection module are arranged along this closed-loop rail, regardlessof its geometrical shape. This provides for additional flexibility ofthe production line. Also, the self-driving shuttles arranged on theclosed-loop rail carrying the inspection cuvettes in which theophthalmic lenses are inspected help create a kind of a ‘buffer’ in theproduction line. For example, in case of a short period of malfunctionor interruption (of some seconds, for example) of the treatment moduleophthalmic lenses may not be transferred to the inspection cuvettes onthe self-driving shuttle waiting at the lens insertion station of theinspection module. However, this does not lead to an interruption of theinspection module. Instead, the self-driving shuttle waiting at the lensinsertion station of the inspection module may then wait until thisshort period of malfunction or interruption is over and ophthalmiclenses are transferred to the cuvettes arranged on this self-drivingshuttle again. The other self-driving shuttles arranged on theclosed-loop rail may continue to move along the closed-loop rail duringthis period of time. As a result, the distance between the self-drivingshuttle waiting at the lens insertion station and the shuttle aheadtemporarily increases. In case the self-driving shuttle behind thatself-driving shuttle waiting at the lens insertion station approachesthe lens insertion station, the sensors of this approaching self-drivingshuttle would brake the shuttle or even stop the shuttle so that nocollision may occur. Once ophthalmic lenses are transferred again to thecuvettes of the shuttle waiting at the lens-insertion station, theshuttle leaving the lens insertion station may start catching up on theshuttle ahead by increasing its travelling speed, whereas the shuttleahead may be caused to slow down by another shuttle ahead, so that thedistance between the shuttles may be equalized again.

Stations arranged along the closed-loop rail comprise a cuvette fillingstation in which the cuvettes are arranged in a handling position and inwhich the cuvettes are filled with water, a lens insertion station inwhich the ophthalmic lenses transferred from the treatment module areinserted into the cuvettes, a first cuvette tilting station in which thecuvettes are tilted from the handling position to an inspectionposition, a lens inspection station in which the ophthalmic lenses inthe cuvettes are inspected, a first cuvette tilting-back station inwhich the cuvettes are titled back to the handling position, anophthalmic lens transfer station in which those ophthalmic lenses thathave successfully passed the inspection are transferred to the primarypackaging module, and a cuvette cleaning station for sucking the waterfrom the cuvettes.

Optionally, between the lens insertion station and the first tiltingstation, an initial cuvette tilting station may be arranged in which thecuvettes containing the ophthalmic lenses inserted in the lens insertionstation are tilted to the inspection position, an inversion detectionstation in which it is detected whether or not an ophthalmic lenscontained in the cuvette is inverted, an initial tilting-back station inwhich the cuvettes are tilted back to the handling position, and are-inverting station in which lenses that are inverted are re-inverted.According to this application, a contact lens manufacturing line has ahigh flexibility with respect to the requirements given by the lensmaterial with regard to curing, extraction and coating of the contactlenses. This is achieved through the use of a plurality of differentindependently controlled ovens for the thermal curing and through theuse of different types of stacks used in the extraction and coating. Theindependently controlled ovens allow for different curing profiles(temperature, duration). Also, the ovens allow for oxygen contained inthe interior of the oven to be expelled by the introduction of differentgases (e.g. different nitrogen gases), depending on the demands given bythe contact lens material. In the extraction and coating baths differentdurations of exposure to the treatment liquids are possible, againdepending on the lens material used. The trays used in the extractionand coating module allow for the use of stacks of different sizes andpacking densities (numbers of lenses contained in the carriers). Thepractice of using the platform as well as the full automation withoutany manual steps enables the scalability of the platform (starting atthe injection molding machines and ending at the primary packagingmodule).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further advantageous aspects of the invention become apparent from thefollowing description of an embodiment of the invention with the aid ofthe drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a front end of the production lineaccording to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a back end of the production lineaccording to the invention;

FIG. 3 shows two tool halves of an injection-molding machine of thefront end of the production line according to the invention (closedposition);

FIG. 4 shows the two tool halves of FIG. 3 in an open position, and agripper tool arranged between them for removing the injection-moldedplastic lens molds;

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of a buffer tray used in the base curveplastic lens mold buffer module or in the front curve plastic lens moldbuffer module;

FIG. 6 shows a mover for transportation of the front curve and basecurve plastic lens molds through a casting module, the mover firstloaded with front curve plastic lens molds only, then with front curveplastic lens molds and base curve plastic lens molds, and finally at afilling station where lens-forming material is dosed into the frontcurve plastic lens molds;

FIG. 7 shows the mover of FIG. 6 in a capping station in which basecurve plastic lens molds from the preceding mover are placed onto thefront curve plastic molds of the current mover (upper portion) with theaid of capping stamps to form closed plastic lens molds, and in whichbase curve plastic molds from the current mover are picked by a gripperand placed on an intermediate storage carrier (lower portion);

FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of a toric angle verification station of thecasting module comprising a camera (left-hand side), and theverification of the toric angle (right-and side);

FIG. 9 shows a first transfer robot transferring the closed plastic lensmolds from the casting module to an individual lens mold tray of astacking module, in which stacks of individual lens mold trays loadedwith closed plastic lens molds are formed;

FIG. 10 shows an oven comprising a heatable chamber in which a stack ofindividual lens mold trays is arranged to form cured lenses from thelens-forming material contained in the closed plastic lens molds;

FIG. 11 shows a transfer robot for transferring closed lens moldscontaining cured lenses from an individual destacked lens mold tray to ademolding and delensing module;

FIG. 12 shows an embodiment of the demolding and delensing module, thedemolding and delensing module comprising a front curve demolding anddelensing branch and/or a base curve demolding and delensing branch,with the demolded cured lenses being transferred to a treatment carriertray;

FIG. 13 shows a treatment carrier tray stacking station of the treatmentmodule of the back end of the production line according to theinvention, and a handling robot picking the stack of carrier trayscarrying the cured lenses up;

FIG. 14 shows the handling robot placing the stack of carrier trayscarrying the cured lenses into a first treatment bath and then leavingthe stack in the first treatment bath;

FIG. 15 shows the handling robot removing the stack of carrier trayscarrying the cured lenses from the first treatment bath;

FIG. 16 shows the handling robot tilting the stack of carrier trays suchthat treatment liquid is allowed to flow back into the first treatmentbath;

FIG. 17 shows the stack either being placed into a second treatment bathor to be moved to a lens transfer station for destacking of the carriertrays and transfer of the ophthalmic lenses to an inspection module;

FIG. 18 shows a self-driving shuttle of the inspection module with aplurality of inspection cuvettes being arranged on the shuttle in thehandling position;

FIG. 19 shows the self-driving shuttle of FIG. 18 with the inspectioncuvettes being arranged on the shuttle in the inspection position;

FIG. 20 shows an embodiment of the lens inspection module with variousstations arranged along a closed-loop rail;

FIG. 21 shows the footprint of the closed-loop rail illustrating thegeometrical shape of the closed-loop rail and the stations arrangedalong the closed-loop rail;

FIG. 22 shows a flow diagram of the various stations of the inspectionmodule shown in FIG. 20 ;

FIG. 23 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the first andsecond tool halves of the first injection-molding machine forinjection-molding of the front curve plastic lens molds (tool halves inclosed position);

FIG. 24 shows a side view of the first and second tool halves shown inFIG. 23 (tool halves in closed position);

FIG. 25 shows a perspective view of the first and second tool halvesshown in FIG. 23 and FIG. 24 (tool halves in open position) illustratingthe change of the first tooling plate;

FIG. 26 shows a perspective view of the first and second tool halvesshown in FIG. 23 and FIG. 24 (tool halves in open position) illustratingthe change of the second tooling plate;

FIG. 27 shows a top view of the first and second tool halves shown inFIG. 25 and FIG. 26 (tool halves in open position);

FIG. 28 shows a sectional view of the first and second tool halves alongline XXXIII-XXXIII of FIG. 27 ;

FIG. 29 shows a sectional view of the first and second tool halves alongline XXIX-XXIX of FIG. 27 ;

FIG. 30 shows a top view of the first and second tool halves shown inFIG. 23 and FIG. 24 (tool halves in closed position);

FIG. 31 shows a sectional view of the first and second tool halves alongline XXXI-XXXI of FIG. 30 ; and

FIG. 32 shows a sectional view of the first and second tool halves alongline XXXII-XXXII of FIG. 30 .

Generally, the automated production line according to the inventioncomprises a front end and a back end, each of which comprises aplurality of individual modules and stations which will be explained inthe following with the aid of embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a front end 1 of the automated productionline for the production of ophthalmic lenses, in particular contactlenses such as soft contact lenses, for example silicone hydrogelcontact lenses, in accordance with the invention. The individual modulesand components of the front end 1 will be discussed in more detail inthe following. While FIG. 1 shows the general arrangement of theindividual modules and components, the modules and components will bedescribed also with the aid of FIG. 2 -FIG. 12 . Front end 1 comprises afirst injection-molding machine 10 arranged in the production line (itis a component of the production line). This first injection-moldingmachine 10 is configured to concurrently produce a plurality of frontcurve plastic lens molds within a predetermined cycle time. Thepredetermined number of front curve plastic lens molds produced withinone (clock) cycle may for example be eight, ten, twelve, sixteen,twenty, or may be any other number. Generally, the predetermined cycletime is less than ten seconds, in particular less than five seconds, andis preferably two to five seconds. By way of example the predeterminedcycle time may be two, three, four or five seconds, an in particularabout four seconds.

Front end 1 further comprises a front curve plastic lens mold buffermodule 11 for intermediate storage and cooling of the front curveplastic lens molds at predetermined environmental conditions(predetermined temperature, for example 22° C.; predetermined relativehumidity, for example 60%) for a predetermined cooling time period. Thefront curve plastic lens molds removed from the first injection-moldingmachine 10 are transferred to the front curve plastic lens mold buffermodule 11 with the aid of a front curve plastic lens mold handlingmechanism 110.

Front end 1 further comprises a second-injection molding machine 12arranged in the production line (it is also a component of theproduction line). This second injection-molding machine 12 is configuredto concurrently produce a plurality of base curve plastic lens moldswithin a predetermined cycle time. The predetermined number of basecurve plastic lens molds produced by the second injection-moldingmachine 12 within one (clock) cycle may for example be eight, ten,twelve, sixteen, twenty, or may be any other number, and corresponds tothe number of front curve plastic lens molds produced by the firstinjection-molding machine 10 within one (clock) cycle. Also here,generally the predetermined cycle time may range from three seconds toten seconds. More preferably, the predetermined cycle time is less thanfive seconds, and by way of example the predetermined cycle time may beabout four seconds. In any event, the cycle time of the second injectionmolding-machine 12 corresponds to the cycle time of the first injectionmolding machine 10.

Front end 1 further comprises a base curve plastic lens mold buffermodule 13 for intermediate storage and cooling of the base curve plasticlens molds at predetermined environmental conditions (predeterminedtemperature, for example 22° C.; predetermined relative humidity, forexample 60%) for a predetermined cooling time period. The base curveplastic lens molds removed from the second injection-molding machine 12are transferred to the base curve plastic lens mold buffer module 13with the aid of a base curve plastic lens mold handling mechanism 130.

The cooling time period of the front curve plastic lens molds in thefront curve plastic lens mold buffer module 11 and the cooling timeperiod of the base curve plastic lens molds in the base curve plasticlens mold buffer module 13 are predetermined (as are the environmentalconditions in the two buffer modules 11 and 13). These cooling timeperiods are selected such that the temperature of the front curveplastic lens molds and the base curve plastic lens molds is lower than apredetermined temperature, so that no inadvertent curing of thelens-forming material caused by the temperature of the front curveplastic lens molds or the temperature of the base curve plastic lensmolds may occur, for example at the time the lens-forming material isdosed into the front curve plastic lens mold or after the closed plasticlens molds containing the lens-forming material have been formed byplacing the base curve plastic lens molds onto the front curve plasticlens molds. Depending on the lens-forming material used, thispredetermined temperature may be lower than 30° C., for example.

This process of injection-molding either the front curve plastic lensmolds in the first injection molding machine 10 or the base curveplastic lens molds in the second injection-molding machine 12 is furtherillustrated in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 . In FIG. 3 , the first tool half 101and the second tool half 102 of the first injection-molding machine 10are shown in the closed position. As this applies similarly to the thirdtool half 121 and the fourth tool half 122 of the secondinjection-molding machine 12, the references signs of bothinjection-molding machines are used in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 . Thedouble-headed arrow shown in FIG. 3 indicates that after the front curveplastic lens molds are molded through injection of a flowablethermoplastic material and curing of the said thermoplastic material toform the front curve plastic lens molds, the first tool half 101 and thesecond tool half 102 are moved away from each other to an open positionshown in FIG. 4 , and a gripper tool 100 comprising suction cups 1000 isintroduced between in the space formed between the first tool half 101and the second tool half 102. The gripper tool 100 serves for removal ofthe front curve plastic lens molds from the first tool half 101 throughthe application of suction, and after removal of the front curve plasticlens molds from the first tool half 101 the gripper tool 100 is removedfrom the space formed between the first tool half 101 and the secondtool half 102. Thereafter, the first tool half 101 and the second toolhalf 102 are moved towards each other to the closed position shown inFIG. 3 , and the next cycle is performed in which the next front curveplastic lens mold is formed through injection of the flowablethermoplastic material. It is noteworthy that the entire (clock) cyclemay only take the afore-mentioned two, three, four or five seconds, inparticular about four seconds, and within these about four seconds allafore-mentioned steps are performed, i.e. the injection of the flowablethermoplastic material (first tool half 101 and second tool half 102 inthe closed position), the subsequent curing of the thermoplasticmaterial to form the front curve plastic lens mold, the opening of thefirst tool half 101 and the second tool half 102, the removal of themolded front curve plastic molds by introducing the gripper tool 100 inthe space formed between the first tool half 101 and the second toolhalf 102 (first tool half 101 and second tool half 102 in the openposition), sucking the front curve plastic lens molds from the firsttool half 101 and then removing the gripper tool 100 from the saidspace, as well as the subsequent closing of the first tool half 101 andthe second tool half 102. This holds similarly for the third tool half121 and the fourth tool half 122 of the second injection-molding machineand the gripper tool 120 with the suction cups 1200 of the secondinjection-molding machine 12, so that the respective reference signshave been used in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 , too.

Once the front curve plastic lens molds and the base curve plastic lensmolds are removed from the respective injection-molding machine, theyare transferred by the front curve plastic lens mold handling mechanism110 and the base curve plastic lens mold handling mechanism 130 to thefront curve plastic lens mold buffer 11 and the base curve plastic lensmold buffer 13, respectively, where they are placed on intermediatestorage trays 111, 131 at predetermined locations 112, 132 and storedfor the predetermined cooling time period at the afore-mentionedpredetermined environmental conditions. This can be seen best in FIG. 5in which eight such predetermined locations 112, 132 are arranged in arow.

Turning back to FIG. 1 , after the cooling time period in the base curveplastic lens mold buffer 13 is over, the front curve plastic lens moldsarranged in a row of the intermediate storage tray 111,131 aretransferred to a mover 140 (a specific carrier) of a casting module 14.The environmental conditions in the casting module 14 are identical withthe environmental conditions in the front curve plastic lens mold buffer11 and in the base curve plastic lens mold buffer 13. Transfer of thebase curve plastic lens molds from the base curve plastic lens moldbuffer 13 to the casting module 14 is performed with another base curveplastic lens mold handling mechanism 133, and transfer of the frontcurve plastic lens molds from the front curve plastic lens mold buffer11 to the casting module 14 is performed with another front curveplastic lens mold handling 113.

The movers 140 are cyclically circulated in the casting module 14 alonga closed loop track as is indicated by the arrow 141. During each clockcycle the respective mover 140 is moved to the next station of thecasting module 14. At a base curve lens mold placement station 142,eight base curve plastic lens molds are concurrently placed onto themover 140 at predetermined locations 1400. This can be seen in FIG. 6(uppermost step shown). At the time this mover 140 reaches the frontcurve placement station 143, eight front curve plastic lens molds areconcurrently placed onto this mover 140 at locations 1401 (step shown inthe middle; note that the changed positions 1400 on the mover 140 are aresult of the reversal of the direction of movement of the mover 140).In the subsequent filling station 144, a predetermined amount of aflowable lens-forming material is dosed into the (concave) front curveplastic molds with the aid of a dosing mechanism 1440 comprising aplurality of dosing tips 1441 (lowermost step shown).

The mover 140 is then moved to the capping station 145 during the nextclock cycle. The capping station 145 is special in the embodimentdescribed. This has to do with the fact, that due to the differentmanner the front curve base curve plastic lens molds and the base curveplastic lens molds are transferred onto the intermediate storage trays111, 131 of the front curve plastic lens mold buffer 11 and of the basecurve plastic lens mold buffer 13, the base curve plastic lens molds ona mover 140 are one (clock) cycle ‘younger’ than the front curve plasticlens molds on the same mover 140 (i.e. the cooling time period of thebase curve plastic lens molds is one clock cycle shorter than thecooling time period of the front curve plastic lens molds). The basecurve plastic lens molds to be placed onto the front curve plastic lensmolds containing the lens-forming material need to have the same ‘age’(i.e. they need to be exposed to the same environmental conditions forthe same period of time) so that deviations in the geometry (shape) ofthe front curve and base curve plastic lens molds caused by differenttemperatures of the front curve and base curve plastic lens molds areavoided which may otherwise result in deviations of the geometry of theophthalmic lenses. For that reason, the base curve plastic lens moldswhich are placed on the front curve plastic lens molds must have beenexposed to the same environmental conditions for the same period oftime, and this holds for all base curve plastic lens molds placed on allfront curve plastic lens molds in the production line, as this leads toa constant high quality of the ophthalmic lenses produced in theproduction line.

Turning back to the embodiment of the front end 1 of the production linedescribed here, as mentioned the base curve plastic lens molds BCM areone clock cycle ‘younger’ than the front curve plastic lens molds FCMarranged on the same mover 140. This ‘difference in age’ is compensatedfor in the capping station 145. As can be seen best in FIG. 7 , at thetime the mover 140 arrives at the capping station, capping stamps 1450carrying the base curve plastic lens molds BCM from the preceding mover140 are already waiting at the capping station 145 for placing thesebase curve plastic lens mold BCM of the preceding mover 140 onto thefront curve plastic lens molds FCM on the mover that has arrived at thecapping station 145 and is presently arranged there (upper portion ofFIG. 7 , left-hand side). An intermediate storage carrier 1452 isarranged close to the base curve plastic lens molds BCM on the mover 140presently arranged in the capping station 145. The base curve plasticlens molds BCM of the mover presently arranged in the capping station145 are then to be picked up with the aid of grippers 1451 (upperportion of FIG. 7 , right-hand side). The base curve plastic lens moldsBCM (from the preceding mover 140) carried by the capping stamps 1450are then placed onto the front curve plastic lens molds FCM arranged onthe mover 140 presently arranged in the capping station 145 (these frontcurve plastic lens molds FCM being filled with lens-forming material) soas to form closed plastic lens molds BCM/FCM containing the lens-formingmaterial. Since the base curve plastic lens molds BCM from the precedingmover 140 (i.e. from the preceding clock cycle) are placed on the frontcurve plastic lens molds of the mover 140 presently arranged in thecapping station 145, the difference in age is compensated for. Thosebase curve plastic lens molds BCM of the mover 140 presently arranged inthe capping station 145 and picked up by the grippers 1451 are placed onthe intermediate storage carrier 1452, and from this intermediatestorage carrier 1452 the base curve plastic lens molds BCM are thenpicked up by the capping stamps 1450 so that they are ready for beingplaced on the front curve plastic lens molds FCM arranged on the nextmover arriving at the capping station 145.

In case toric ophthalmic lenses (or more generally: ophthalmic lenseswhich are not rotationally symmetrical) are to be produced with therotational stabilization features being provided on the front curveplastic lens molds FCM (and thus on the anterior surface of theophthalmic lens) and the toric surface being provided on the base curveplastic lens molds BCM (and thus on the posterior surface of theophthalmic lens), the base curve plastic lens molds BCM need to berotated to the desired rotational orientation. This rotation of the basecurve plastic lens molds BCM to the desired desired rotationalorientation is performed after the base curve plastic lens molds BCM arepicked up from the intermediate storage carrier 1452 and before they areplaced on the front curve plastic lens molds FCM of the next mover 140by the capping stamps 1450 once the next mover 140 arrives at thecapping station 145.

The next station on the track in the casting module 14 is a toric angleverification station 146 (see FIG. 1 ), the details being shown in FIG.8 . This station essentially serves to verify whether the toric angle αis correctly set (in case of toric ophthalmic lenses), i.e. it isverified whether the base curve plastic lens molds BCM are arranged atthe correct target rotational orientation TROM relative to thepredetermined rotational orientation PROM of the front curve plasticlens molds FCM so that the toric angle α has the correct value (seeillustration on the right-hand side of FIG. 8 ). In this embodiment eachof the front curve plastic lens molds FCM has tab T1 and each of thebase curve plastic lens molds BCM has a tab T2, and the angularpositions of these tabs T1 and T2 are used to verify whether the toricangle α is correctly set. This verification of the toric angle isperformed with the aid of a camera 1460 (see illustration on theleft-hand side of FIG. 8 ) which is arranged above the respective mover140, and with the aid of image analysis.

While the tabs T1 and T2 of the base curve plastic lens molds BCM andthe front curve lens molds FCM shown in FIG. 8 are only described by wayof example in order to illustrate how the toric angle verification maybe performed, any other marks on the base curve plastic lens molds BCMand the front curve plastic lens molds FCM which are indicative of therotational orientation of the respective mold and which are detectableusing the camera 1460 are possible as well. In case it is detected thatthe base curve plastic lens molds BCM does not have the desiredrotational orientation, the rotational orientation may be corrected inthe toric angle verification station by suitable tools (not shown).

The next station 147 on the track in the casting module 14 serves forthe transfer of the closed plastic lens molds BCM/FCM containing thelens-forming material to a stacking module 15 (see FIG. 9 ). A firsttransfer robot 1470 is provided which is configured to transfer theclosed plastic lens molds BCM/FCM containing the lens-forming material(in the embodiment shown eight such closed plastic lens molds) from themover 140 to a lens mold tray 150 waiting at the stacking module 15. Therespective row to which the eight closed plastic lens molds BCM/FCM aretransferred is left blank in FIG. 9 to indicate the location where theclosed plastic lens molds BCM/FCM are to be placed. The rest of the lensmold tray 150 shown in FIG. 5 is already loaded with closed plastic lensmolds BCM/FCM. Once the lens mold tray is completely loaded with closedplastic lens molds BCM/FCM containing the lens-forming material, thislens mold tray 150 is raised by one step (of predetermined step height)and the next (empty) lens mold tray 150 is loaded with closed plasticlens molds BCM/FCM in the manner described above. Thereafter, this nextlens mold tray 150 (now loaded with closed plastic lens molds BCM/FCM)is placed underneath the preceding lens mold tray 150 using a stackingrobot (not shown in FIG. 9 ). Thereafter, the (incomplete) stack of twocompletely loaded lens molds trays 150 is raised again by one step, andthe second next (empty) lens mold tray 150 is loaded with closed plasticlens molds BCM/FCM and is then stacked underneath this (incomplete)stack. Alternatively, instead of raising the lens mold tray 150 (or theincomplete stack of lens mold trays) no upward movement of the lens moldtrays 150 (or the incomplete stack) may be performed, but rather theindividual lens mold trays 150 may simply be stacked one above the other(the uppermost lens mold tray 150 always being the empty lens mold trayto be loaded with closed plastic lens molds BCM/FCM). In this case,however, the transfer robot 1470 must be configured to load theuppermost lens mold tray 150 at the respective level. However, in thiscase the transfer robot 1470 must be configured to load the closedplastic lens molds BCM/FCM on lens mold trays 150 at different levels,as the height of the (incomplete) stack is increasing in this case. Inthe first alternative (raising of the lens mold tray 150 or theincomplete stack, respectively), the first transfer robot 1470 must onlybe capable to transfer the closed plastic lens molds to the same level,thus allowing to keep the first transfer robot 1470 technically simple.By way of example, a complete stack of individual lens mold trays 150may comprise a number of individual lens mold trays 150 that ranges fromten up to thirty-five, but any other number of individual lens moldtrays 150 contained in the stack is conceivable as well. A limitation inthis regard may be given, however, by the space available in the heatingchamber of the ovens of the subsequent curing module, as will beexplained in more detail below.

Lens mold trays suitable for this purpose are shown, for example, in WO2018/178823. In WO 2018/178823 it is also shown that the closed plasticlens molds BCM/FCM are not placed directly on the surface of the lensmold tray, but are each placed on a plastic mold support mounted to thelens mold tray so that the closed plastic lens molds BCM/FCM are not indirect contact with the lens mold tray. This helps to ensure that heatis not unevenly transferred to the closed plastic lens molds BCM/FCM viathe surface of the lens mold tray, but rather is uniformly transferredto the closed plastic lens molds (and thus to the lens-forming materialcontained therein) through the circulating heated gas atmospheresurrounding the closed plastic lens molds BCM/FCM arranged on theindividual lens mold trays.

Turning back to the stack, once a said stack of lens mold trays 150forms a completed stack 151 (with each lens mold tray 150 having theclosed lens molds BCM/FCM containing the lens-forming material arrangedthereon), such completed stack 151 is to be loaded into an oven 160 (seeFIG. 10 ) of a curing module 16. An individual oven 160 comprises aheatable chamber 161 and a door (not shown) for opening and closing theoven 160. The curing module 16 further comprises a stack handling robot162 (FIG. 1 ) for picking a completed stack 151 from the stacking module15, transporting the completed stack 151 to one of the ovens 160 andplacing the completed stack 151 into the heatable chamber 161 of theoven 160 (with the door of the oven 160 being open) and then closing thedoor of that oven 160. Thereafter, the oven may be flushed forconsiderable time with an inert gas to expel oxygen out of the oven downto an extremely low percentage of oxygen, e.g. to less than 1%, morepreferably less than 0.5% or even down to 0.1%, as too high an oxygencontent may inhibit the polymerization/crosslinking process duringcuring. Thereafter, the heatable chamber 161 may be heated to a desiredtemperature and be kept at this desired temperature for a predeterminedduration. The desired temperature and the duration depend on thelens-forming material actually used. It is also possible that thelens-forming material is heated at a first temperature for a firstpredetermined duration in the heatable chamber 161, then the temperaturein the heatable chamber 161 is raised to a second predeterminedtemperature and is kept at this second temperature for a secondpredetermined duration, and then the temperature in the heatable chamber161 is raised to a third predetermined temperature and is kept at thisthird temperature for a third predetermined duration. Alternatively,depending on the lens-forming material used the heatable chamber 161 maybe heated only to one single predetermined temperature and kept at thispredetermined temperature without being lowered or raised during thecuring process. By way of example, suitable temperatures may be takenfrom the range starting at 50° C. and ending at 120° C., without beinglimited to this range.

Once the stack carrying the plastic lens molds BCM/FCM has been exposedto the desired temperature(s) for the desired duration, the stackhandling robot 162 takes the completed stack 151 out of the heatablechamber 161 (after having opened the door of the oven 160) and transfersthe stack to a destacking module 17. The completed stack 151 nowcontains plastic lens molds BCM/FCM containing cured lenses. Suchcompleted stack 151 with the plastic lens molds BCM/FCM containing thecured lenses is then destacked in the destacking module 17 with the aidof a destacking robot (not shown) by unstacking one individual lens moldtray 150 from the stack so that the plastic lens molds BCM/FCM of thatunstacked individual lens mold tray are accessible. This unstackingoperation in the destacking module 17 may be performed in the reverseorder described for the stacking process performed in the stackingmodule 15 (FIFO, First In First Out). It is therefore referred to thedescription of the stacking process in the stacking module 15.

Next, a plurality of closed plastic lens molds BCM/FCM (again eight, byway of example, corresponding to one row on the lens mold tray 150) istransferred by a second transfer robot 180 (FIG. 11 ) to a demolding anddelensing module 18 (FIG. 12 ) that generally comprises one out of twobranches, a front curve demolding and delensing branch 181 and a basecurve demolding and delensing branch 182 (but may also comprise bothbranches, with typically only one of them being used).

In the front curve demolding and delensing branch, the first station isa lens pre-release station. In this lens pre-release station 1810, foreach base curve plastic lens mold a mechanical stamp 1812 is pressedagainst the back surface of the base curve plastic lens mold BCM in aportion surrounding the concave portion of the back surface, whereas thefront curve plastic lens mold FCM is arranged on a support 1811. Throughthis mechanical pressure the cured (rigid) lens contained in the plasticlens mold BCM/FCM is released from the base curve plastic lens mold BCMand does not adhere to the base curve plastic lens mold BCM anymore. Theplastic lens molds BCM/FCM are then forwarded to a demolding station1813 where the base curve plastic lens molds BCM are opened to separatethe base curve plastic lens molds BCM from the front curve plastic lensmolds FCM. Opening of the plastic lens molds BCM/FCM is performed foreach plastic lens mold BCM/FCM with the aid of a prying finger 1814prying the base curve plastic lens mold BCM away from the front curveplastic lens mold FCM while at the same time a retainer 1815 holds thefront curve plastic lens mold FCM down (on the support, not shown here)so that the base curve plastic lens mold BCM is separated from the frontcurve plastic lens mold FCM and is picked up with a suction cup 1816. Asthe cured lens has been pre-released from the base curve plastic lensmold BCM in the preceding step, it stays in the front curve plastic lensmold FCM. The cured lens must now be released from the front curveplastic lens mold FCM to which it adheres. This is done in a delensingstation 1817 in which a pin 1818 presses against the convex outer backsurface portion of the front curve plastic lens mold FCM while at thesame time the front curve plastic lens mold FCM is held down by aretainer 1819. The cured lens CL that has been released from the frontcurve plastic lens mold FCM in this manner is then transferred to atreatment carrier tray 200 by a transfer gripper TG1 and placed into abasket 2000 of such treatment carrier tray 200. The afore-describedoperations are performed simultaneously for the eight plastic lens moldsBCM/FCM which are concurrently processed.

In the base curve demolding and delensing branch 182, the first stationis a demolding station 1820. In the demolding station 1820, a pin 1821presses against the convex outer surface of the front curve plastic lensmold FCM as a retainer 1822 moves the front curve plastic lens molddownwards. Thus, the cured lens is released from the front curve plasticlens mold and adheres to the base curve plastic lens mold BCM which isat the same time picked up by a suction cup 1823. Now that the curedlens CL adheres to the base curve plastic lens mold BCM it must bereleased therefrom. For that purpose, an ultrasonic horn 1824 is placedagainst the back surface of the base curve plastic lens mold BCM, whilethe base curve plastic lens mold BCM rests on a support 1825. Theultrasonic vibrations introduced into the base curve plastic lens moldBCM causes the cured lens CL to be released from the base curve plasticlens mold BCM in a delensing station 1827. The released cured lens CLthen rests on a receiver gripper 1826 (or a basket), from which thecured lens CL is then transferred to the treatment carrier tray 200 by atransfer gripper TG2 and placed into the basket 2000 of the treatmentcarrier tray 200. This treatment carrier tray 200 is already part of atreatment module 20 of a production line back end 2, an embodiment ofwhich will be described in the following with reference to FIG. 2 .

With respect to scalability, the number of front curve plastic lensmolds FCM produced by the first injection-molding machine 10 during one(clock) cycle and the number of base curve plastic lens molds BCMproduced by the second injection-molding machine 12 during one (clock)cycle may be different. As mentioned above, by way of example a numberof eight, ten, twelve, sixteen, twenty, or any other number of frontcurve plastic lens molds FCM or base curve plastic lens molds BCM may beconcurrently produced. This may lead to certain adaptations of the frontend 1 becoming necessary. For example, in case sixteen front curveplastic lens molds FCM and sixteen base curve plastic lens molds BCM areproduced during one (clock) cycle, sixteen such front curve plastic lensmolds FCM and base curve plastic lens molds BCM are then concurrentlytransferred from the front curve plastic lens mold buffer 11 and thebase curve plastic lens mold buffer to the casting module 14 by thefront curve plastic lens mold handling mechanism 113 and base curveplastic lens mold handling mechanism 133, respectively. Consequently,the movers 140 are then embodied to concurrently carry and transportsixteen front curve plastic lens molds FCM and sixteen base curveplastic lens molds BCM through the casting module 14. Also, this casethe dosing mechanism 1440 of the filling station 144 comprises sixteendosing tips 1441 for concurrently dosing the lens-forming material intothe sixteen front curve plastic lens molds FCM during one (clock) cycle,and the capping station 145 comprises sixteen capping stamps 1450 forconcurrently placing sixteen capping base curve plastic lens molds BCMon the sixteen front curve plastic lens molds FCM in the mannerdescribed above. The intermediate storage carrier 1452 in this exampleis embodied to store sixteen base curve plastic lens molds BCM. Thetoric angle verification station 146 is also embodied to verify in one(clock) cycle if the toric angle (if applicable) of the sixteen closedplastic lens molds BCM/FCM is correctly set. And, finally, in thisexample the first transfer robot 1470 is embodied to concurrentlytransfer sixteen closed plastic lens molds BCM/FCM from the transferstation 147 of the casting module 14 to the stacking module 15, moreprecisely onto the lens mold tray 150 to be loaded.

Further with respect to scalability, in the stacking module 15 stacks151 of different height, i.e. stacks 151 comprising different numbers ofindividual lens mold trays 150 stacked one above the other may beformed. Obviously, the maximum number of lens mold trays 150 containedin a stack 151 is limited by the size of the heatable chambers 161 ofthe ovens 160 of the curing module 16. However, stacks 151 containingany number of individual lens mold trays 150 lower than this maximumnumber are possible (especially in case of small lots).

Still further with respect to scalability, the number of ovens 160 inthe curing module may vary, i.e. the number of ovens 160 may beincreased or decreased to allow a higher or lower number of ophthalmiclenses to be concurrently produced in the production line. And it may beof particular advantage in case ophthalmic lenses made of differentlens-forming materials are concurrently produced in the same productionline, since in such instance the temperature profiles necessary to curethe different lens-forming materials in the heating chambers 161 of theovens 160 (as well as the tolerated level of residual oxygen in theheating chambers 161 of the ovens 160) may vary and can be independentlyset for the respective oven 160.

Regardless of any such measures related to scalability, the structuralconcept of the production line as a whole remains the same and does notneed to be changed. Turning now to the back end 2, FIG. 2 shows anembodiment of the back end 2 of the automated production line for theproduction of ophthalmic lenses, in particular contact lenses such assoft contact lenses, for example silicone hydrogel contact lenses, inaccordance with the invention. The individual modules and components ofthe back end 2 will be discussed in more detail in the following. WhileFIG. 2 shows a general overview of the individual modules and componentsof production line back end 2, the modules and components will bedescribed also with the aid of FIG. 13 -FIG. 22 .

Generally, the back end 2 comprises a treatment module 20 for a liquidbath treatment of the cured lenses CL carried by the treatment carriers200. Depending on the type of lens-forming material used for forming thecured lenses CL, the liquid bath treatment may comprise a bath treatmentin one or more of the following liquids (this list being only an examplerather than being exhaustive, as the liquids depend on the lens-formingmaterial used): water, an organic extraction liquid (e.g. a liquidcontaining propanol), a coating liquid (e.g. liquid containingpolyacrylic acid, polymethacrylic acid), phosphate buffered water, ormixtures thereof.

At the time the cured lenses CL are transferred to the treatment carriertrays 200 from the demolding and delensing module 18 of the front end 1with the aid of one of the transfer grippers TG1 or TG2 (see FIG. 12 ),the cured lenses CL are placed into the baskets 2000 of one individualcarrier tray 200. Treatment carrier trays suitable for this purpose aredisclosed, for example, in WO 2018/185630. To increase the efficiency ofthe bath treatment, a plurality of such treatment carrier trays 200 arestacked above each other in a treatment carrier tray stacking module 201to form a stack 202 of treatment carrier trays 200 carrying the curedlenses CL. Such treatment carrier tray stacking module 201 is indicatedin FIG. 2 and shown enlarged in the portion on the left-hand side ofFIG. 13 . The uppermost tray 200 of the stack 202 is not loaded withcured lenses CL and forms the lid of the stack so that the lenses of thesecond uppermost tray cannot get lost during transportation of the stackthrough the treatment module.

Treatment module 20 further comprises a handling robot 203 which isconfigured to pick the stack 202 of treatment carrier trays 200, as thisis shown in the middle of FIG. 13 . Handling robot 203 comprises a baseportion 2030 and a lifting arm 2031 that can be raised and lowered. Atthe upper end of lifting arm 2031 there is arranged a pivotal shaft 2032to which a beam 2033 is attached. At each of the opposite ends of thebeam 2033, a gripper arm 2034 is provided which can be laterally moved(or pivoted) towards and away from each other. To grasp a stack 202 oftreatment carrier trays, the lifting arm 2031 of handling robot 203 islowered as this is shown by the arrow 2035 shown in the middle of FIG.13 , with the gripper arms 2034 being in the position in which they havebeen moved (or pivoted) laterally away from each other. Once the liftingarm 2031 has been lowered, the gripper arms 2034 are moved laterally (orpivoted) towards one another as indicated by the arrows 2036 to graspthe stack 202 of treatment carrier trays 200, as is shown in the portionon the right-hand side in FIG. 13 . The grasped stack 202 of treatmentcarrier trays containing the cured lenses CL is then lifted again, seearrow 2037, and is moved towards the plurality of treatment baths, as isindicated by arrow 238 in FIG. 13 .

In FIG. 14 it is shown that the base portion 2030 moves the handlingrobot 203 with the lifted stack 202 towards a first bath 204 (see alsoFIG. 2 ) of a plurality of treatment baths, as shown in more detail inthe outermost left portion of FIG. 14 . This first bath 204 comprises atank 2040 and a first treatment liquid 2041 which may be a coatingliquid or an organic extraction liquid, for example. The robot 203 maythen lower the stack 202 of treatment carrier trays 200 carrying thecured lenses CL into the first treatment bath 204, as this is shown inthe second outermost left portion of FIG. 14 . Next, the gripper arms2034 of the handling robot 203 are moved away from each other again, andthe lifting arm 2031 of handling robot 203 is raised again, see arrow2037. The stack 202 has now been successfully placed into the firsttreatment bath 204 and may remain in the first treatment bath for apredetermined period of time to effect coating or extraction of thecured lenses CL. This state is shown in the outermost left portion ofFIG. 15 . During this period, the handling robot 203 is available forthe handling of other stacks.

Once the predetermined period of time for treatment of the cured lensesCL in the first bath 204 is over, the handling robot 203 returns to thefirst treatment bath 204 again, with the lifting arm 2031 being raisedand the gripper arms 2034 being moved away from each other, as this isshown in the second outermost portion of FIG. 15 . The lifting arm 2031is then lowered again and the gripper arms 2034 moved towards eachother, see arrows 2036 shown in the second outermost right portion ofFIG. 15 . Thereafter, the lifting arm 2031 is raised again, as isindicated by the arrow 2037 in the outermost right portion of FIG. 15 .This state in which the stack 202 that has been removed from the firstbath 204 is still arranged above the tank 2040 containing the firsttreatment liquid 2041 is shown in the outermost left portion of FIG. 16.

Next, the stack 202—while still being arranged above the tank 2040 ofthe first treatment bath 204—is pivoted about the pivotal shaft 2032 asthis is indicated by the arrow 2039 shown in the second outermostportion of FIG. 16 . This allows the first treatment liquid 2041 of thefirst bath still adhering to the cured lenses CL or to the individualtreatment carrier trays 200 of the stack 202 to flow back to the tank2040 of the first treatment bath 204, as this is indicated by thedroplets of the first treatment liquid 2041 and the arrows 2042 close tothese droplets. This avoids that substantial portions of the firsttreatment liquid 2041 of the first bath 204 be entrained to the nextbath which would contaminate the next bath. Once this action iscompleted, the stack 202 is tilted back and the handling robot 203 movesthe stack 202 of treatment carrier trays 200 carrying the cured lensesto the second treatment bath of the plurality of treatment bath (or toan ophthalmic lens transfer station where the lenses are transferred toan inspection module). The handling robot 203 moving the stack 202 fromthe first treatment bath 204 comprising the tank 2040 and the firsttreatment liquid 2041 to the second treatment bath 205 comprising a tank2050 and a second treatment liquid 2051, see arrow 2038, is shown in thesecond outermost right portion and in the outermost right portion ofFIG. 16 . The stack 202 is then lowered again and placed into the secondbath 205 where the stack 202 remains for a predetermined period of timeagain, see left-hand portion of FIG. 17 . For example, the treatmentliquid 2051 of the second bath 205 may again be water, a coating liquid,an organic extraction liquid containing propanol, phosphate bufferedwater, or mixtures thereof. The process of placing the stack 202 intothe second treatment bath 205 using the handling robot 203, lifting thestack 202 out of the second treatment bath 205, tilting the stack aboutthe pivotal shaft 2032, pivoting the stack back, and moving the stack toa third treatment bath 206 (see FIG. 2 ) comprising a treatment liquidis not described in detail again. In this regard, it is referred to thedescription above with respect to the first treatment bath 204. The lasttreatment bath is typically water or phosphate buffered water, dependingon the lens-forming material. Thereafter, the cured lenses CL areextracted and/or coated and/or hydrated to finally form ophthalmiclenses which are carried by the individual treatment carrier trays 200of the stack.

Evidently, many different types of treatment baths may be arranged inthe treatment module of the production line, so that the cured lensesmay be treated in different treatment baths for different periods oftime depending on the lens-forming material actually used. Typically,two or more baths of each type of treatment baths/different treatmentliquids may be provided in the treatment module, so that it is possibleto concurrently produce ophthalmic lenses made of different lens-formingmaterials in the production line, thus rendering the production linevery flexible with respect to the lens-forming material used. Also,ophthalmic lenses made of different lens-forming materials may be(concurrently or sequentially) produced in the same production line.While this may require the provision of different treatment baths and/ormay require that the ovens be flushed with different amounts and/ordifferent degrees of purity of the inert gas, it is possible to producethe ophthalmic lenses made of different lens material using the sameconcept of the production line. This renders the production lineextremely flexible.

Alternatively, only ophthalmic lenses made of the same lens-formingmaterial may be concurrently produced in the production line, however,due to two or more baths of each type being provided in the treatmentmodule a high number of ophthalmic lenses can be concurrently produced(in stacks) in the production line, thus rendering the production linevery efficient.

With a view to scalability, the number and types of liquid baths of thetreatment module can be increased or decreased. For example, asmentioned, for each lens-forming material to be used in the productionline, the required treatment baths for the respective lens-formingmaterial to treat the cured lenses CL to obtain the final ophthalmiclenses may be provided only once or multiple times, depending on howmany lenses should be concurrently produced in the production line.Also, in case only one lens-forming material is used, only those typesof treatment baths required for this particular lens-forming materialmay be provided in the treatment module. As these treatment baths aretypically arranged in a row (i.e. one after the other), the length ofthis row may increase or decrease. In particular, in case the size ofthe room or hall imposes restrictions on the production line, this canbe considered for the final configuration of the treatment module of theproduction line. However, again the structural concept of the productionline as a whole remains the same and does not need to be changed.

In any event, after treatment in the last treatment bath is completedthe stack 202 is transferred to an ophthalmic lens transfer station 207(see FIG. 2 ) which is shown enlarged in FIG. 17 . In this ophthalmiclens transfer station 207, a destacking robot (not shown) destacks theindividual treatment carrier trays 200 now containing the ophthalmiclenses to allow the ophthalmic lenses to be transferred from theindividual treatment carrier trays 200 to an inspection module 21.Destacking and transfer of the ophthalmic lenses to the inspectionmodule 21 may be performed by lifting the stack 2020 out of the lasttreatment bath, typically water or phosphate buffered water, such thatonly the uppermost treatment carrier tray 200 that carries ophthalmiclenses (note that prior to destacking the baskets of the uppermosttreatment carrier tray 200 of the stack 202 do not contain anyophthalmic lenses as this uppermost treatment carrier tray forms the lidof the stack) is lifted above the level of the surface of the waterwhile the rest of the treatment carrier trays 200 of the stack 202remain immersed in the water. The ophthalmic lenses are then picked fromthe baskets of this uppermost treatment carrier tray 200 (usingconventional grippers, for example) and transferred to the inspectionmodule. Alternatively, this uppermost carrier tray 200 is first removedfrom the stack and moved to a separate location in the lens transferstation 207 whereupon the ophthalmic lenses are picked from the basketsand transferred to the inspection module, as this is indicated on theright-hand portion of FIG. 17 .

Inspection of the ophthalmic lenses is described in the following withthe aid of FIG. 2 and FIG. 18-22 . One embodiment of the inspectionmodule 21 is shown schematically in FIG. 20 . The operations which areperformed in the various stations of the inspection module 21 arrangedalong a closed-loop rail 210 (the path being schematically shown in FIG.21 ) are shown in more detail in FIG. 22 . While the path of theclosed-loop rail 210 is shown in FIG. 21 to have corners, this is forthe sake of simplicity of the drawing only since in practice the path iscurved to allow the shuttle to drive through the curves of theclosed-loop rail 210. The geometry of the path of the closed-loop rail210 (i.e. the course of the path) can be freely chosen and can bedetermined, for example, to best fit the free space of the room wherethe inspection module 21 of the production line is arranged. This optionto freely choose the geometry of the path of the closed-loop rail 210 isvery advantageous as it allows to optimally fit the inspection module 21to the available space.

Transportation of the ophthalmic lenses through the various stations ofthe inspection module 21 which are arranged along the closed-loop rail210 is performed with the aid of a plurality of self-driving shuttles211 arranged on the closed-loop rail 210. Such self-driving shuttles 211may be shuttles of the type MONTRAC® SHUTTLE MSH4 available from thecompany montratec GmbH, Johann-Liesenberger-Strasse 7, 78078Niedereschach, Germany. These self-driving shuttles 210 are equippedwith a driving unit 2114 for moving the respective shuttle 211 along theclosed-loop rail 120, and with sensors for detecting a leading shuttle211 in front of the respective (trailing) shuttle 211 on the closed-looprail 210. Thus, when the trailing shuttle 211 approaches the leadingshuttle 211, the sensors of the trailing shuttle 211 reduce thetravelling speed of the trailing shuttle 211 to avoid collision. Ifnecessary, the speed of the trailing shuttle 211 may even be reduced tozero (i.e. the trailing shuttle 211 is caused to stop). In addition, ateach of the various stations arranged along the closed-loop rail 210,the shuttles 211 are also caused to stop to allow the respectiveoperation to be performed in the respective station of the inspectionmodule 21. The self-driving shuttles 211 are also advantageous as theyallow for movement along the closed-loop rail 210 whenever there issufficient free space ahead (i.e. no leading shuttle 211 at too small adistance ahead). Also, in case there is a small delay in transferringfurther ophthalmic lenses from the treatment module 20 to the inspectionmodule 21 (e.g. caused by small delays or interruptions of the treatmentmodule 20), the shuttles 211 on the closed-loop rail 210 other than theshuttle 211 waiting for the ophthalmic lenses to be transferred maycontinue their movement along the closed-loop rail 210. Once the shuttle211 waiting for the ophthalmic lenses has received the ophthalmic lenseswith a small delay, the shuttle 211 may catch up on the leading shuttleas it does not have to wait or reduce speed but may even speed upmovement along the closed-loop rail 210 (except that the shuttle 210must stop at each station to allow the respective operation to beperformed). This means that the production line is allowed to ‘breathe’to some extent (i.e. delays in performing certain operations can becompensated for without interruption of the production line).

Each self-driving shuttle 211 carries a plurality of inspection cuvettes2110, and in the embodiment shown in FIG. 18 and FIG. 19 the totalnumber of cuvettes 2110 arranged on one shuttle 211 is thirty-two, withsixteen cuvettes being arranged in a row, respectively. The cuvettes2110 of one row are arranged on a web 2111 which can be tilted from ahandling position shown in FIG. 18 , in which the ophthalmic lenses canbe inserted into and removed from the cuvettes 2110 through a handlingopening 2112 of the cuvettes 2110 with the aid of known grippers(indicated by the dashed double-headed arrows), and an inspectionposition shown in FIG. 19 , in which the ophthalmic lenses can beinspected through the viewing glasses 2113 of the cuvettes 2110 with theaid of one or more cameras (not shown). The cuvettes 2110, the processof inserting the ophthalmic lenses into and removing the ophthalmiclenses from the cuvettes 2110 when they are arranged in the handlingposition, the tilting of the cuvettes 2110 from the handling position tothe inspection position, and the inspection of the ophthalmic lenses inthe cuvettes 2110 through the viewing glass 2113 when they are arrangedin the inspection position are well-known and described, for example, inWO 03/016855 or in WO 2007/042280.

Turning now to the various stations arranged along the closed-loop rail210, these are explained with the aid of FIG. 20 , FIG. 21 and FIG. 22 .The first station arranged along the closed-loop rail is a cuvettefilling station 2100 (in general it does not matter which station iscalled the ‘first’ station arranged along the closed-loop rail 210; forexample, the lens insertion station explained in the following may becalled the ‘first’ station as well, see flow chart shown FIG. 22 , whichwould cause the filling station 2100 to be the ‘last’ station arrangedalong the closed-loop rail 210). In the cuvette filling station 2100,the cuvettes 2110 arranged on the shuttles 211 are arranged in thehandling position to allow liquid (water) to be filled into the cuvettes2110 through the handling openings 2112 to make the cuvettes 2110 readyfor the insertion of the ophthalmic lenses to be inspected. The nextstation arranged along the closed-loop rail 210 is the lens insertionstation 2101 in which the ophthalmic lenses are transferred from thetreatment module 20 to the inspection module 21, i.e. the ophthalmiclenses are inserted into the cuvettes 2110 with the aid of conventionalgrippers. The next station arranged along the closed-loop rail 210 is aninitial cuvette tilting station 2102. In this initial cuvette tiltingstation 2102 the cuvettes 211 are tilted from the handling position tothe inspection position by pivoting the webs 2111 on which the cuvettes2110 are arranged. Next, in an inversion detection station 2103 theophthalmic lenses are inspected as to whether they are properly orientedor whether they are inverted (turned inside out). The next station is aninitial tilting-back station 2104 in which the cuvettes 2110 are tiltedback to the handling position. Next, in a re-inverting station 2105 theophthalmic lenses are re-inverted to the proper orientation in case inthe inversion detection station 2103 it has been detected that theophthalmic lenses are inverted. Such re-inversion of an invertedophthalmic lens to the proper orientation is well-known and isdescribed, for example, in WO 2009/103732. The initial cuvette tiltingstation 2102, the inversion detection station 2103, the initial tiltingback station 2104, and the re-inverting station 2105 are preferablyprovided in the inspection module, however, in general they areoptional. Thus, in other embodiments of the inspection module 21 inwhich ophthalmic lenses are inspected which are not prone to inversion(in contrast to silicone hydrogel contact lenses which are extremelyflexible and for which inversion may occur), these stations can beomitted.

Next, the cuvettes 2110 are tilted in a first cuvette tilting station2106 to the inspection position. In the subsequent lens inspectionstation 2107 the ophthalmic lenses are inspected through the viewingglasses 2113 of the cuvettes 2110, for example with the aid of one ormore cameras (not shown) and image-processing, as this is well-known inthe art. Inspection of the ophthalmic lenses may comprise the inspectionof the ophthalmic lenses for cosmetic defects, edge defects, inclusions(such as bubbles or other inclusions), but may also comprise thedetermination of the lens central thickness or optical parameters (e.g.diopter) of the ophthalmic lenses. This is also well-known in the art.For example, inspection of the ophthalmic lenses may occur when theshuttle 211 enters the lens inspection station 2107, i.e. the camera orcameras may be fixedly arranged and the ophthalmic lenses are inspectedas the shuttle 211 is moving into the lens inspection station 2107.Alternatively, inspection of the ophthalmic lenses may occur while theshuttle 211 is arranged in the lens inspection station 2107 and does notmove. In this case, the camera or cameras may be moved along the rows ofcuvettes 2110 arranged in the shuttle 211. Thereafter, the cuvettes 2110are tilted back to the handling position again in a first cuvettetilting-back station 2108.

The cuvettes are then transported to an ophthalmic lens transfer station21009 in which those ophthalmic lenses that have successfully passed theinspection are transferred to the primary packaging shells waiting in aprimary packaging module 22 for the ophthalmic lenses to be transferred.This transfer can be performed with grippers suitable for this purpose,for example those disclosed in WO 2011/026868 or in WO 2020/084573.Primary packaging shells suitable for the packaging of the ophthalmiclenses are disclosed, for example, in WO 2019/180679. The ophthalmiclenses that have not successfully passed the inspection are nottransferred to the primary packaging module. In the subsequent cuvettecleaning station 21010 the water is sucked from the cuvettes, and theophthalmic lenses that have not successfully passed the inspection aresucked from the cuvettes together with the water and are filtered fromthe water and disposed of.

In the primary packaging module 22, the bowls of the primary packagingshells waiting for the lenses to be transferred may already have beenfilled with a small fraction of the volume of a storage liquid (e.g.saline with or without additional agents) to be dispensed into therespective bowl, and after the ophthalmic lenses have been transferredthe rest of the full amount of storage liquid is dispensed into thebowl. The primary packaging shells are then covered with a foil which issubsequently sealed onto the packaging shells, as this is well-known inthe art. Information about the ophthalmic lens contained in thepackaging shell may then be printed onto the foil using laser-printingor other printing techniques, and finally the thus formed primarypackages are placed into magazines for autoclaving. This is well-knownin the art and is therefore not described in more detail here.

One particular aspect of the production line according to the inventionis described in the following with the aid of FIG. 23 -FIG. 32 . Thisaspect deals with the capability of the production line to allow for afast lot change despite the injection molding machines being operated at(and thus heated to) high temperatures to inject the flowable plasticmaterial for the front curve plastic lens molds and the base curveplastic lens molds. Typically, a lot change then requires that the wholeinjection-molding machine be cooled down to a temperature at which anexchange of the elements determining the shape of the front curveplastic lens molds and the base curve plastic lens molds produced withthe respective injection-molding machine is possible. This results invery considerable downtime of the production line, as such coolingprocess may take hours.

In the injection-molding machines used in the production line accordingto the invention such downtime of the production line during a lotchange can be very substantially reduced, as is explained in thefollowing with the aid of the first injection-molding machine 10 formolding the front curve plastic lens molds FCM, but similarconsiderations hold for the second injection-molding machine for moldingthe base curve plastic lens molds BCM.

As can be seen in FIG. 23 and FIG. 24 the first injection-moldingmachine 10 comprises a first tool half 101 and a second tool half 102.The first tool half 101 and the second tool half 102 are movablerelative to one another between a closed position for injection-moldingof the front curve plastic lens molds FCM and an open position in whichthe molded front curve plastic lens mold FCM is removed from theinjection-molding machine. While generally it is possible that both toolhalves are movable towards and away from each other, in the embodimentshown only the second mold half 102 is movable towards and away from thefirst mold half 101 which is fixedly arranged (alternatively, the secondmold half 102 may be fixedly arranged while only the first mold half 101is movable towards and away from the second mold half 102). As can beseen in FIG. 23 and FIG. 24 , the first mold half 101 comprises a firstfixed block 1010 and a first alignment plate 1011 releasable mounted tothe first fixed block 1010. The first fixed block comprises a first slot1012 (in the embodiment shown two such first slots 1012) accommodating afirst tooling plate 1013 (in the embodiment shown two such first toolingplates 1013) to which a plurality of individual first sleeves 1014 arepre-mounted (see FIG. 25 ). Each individual first sleeve 1014 has anindividual optical tool insert 1015 mounted thereto (see FIG. 27 ), andthis individual optical tool insert 1015 determines the shape of theconcave optical front surface of the front curve plastic lens mold FCM.The first alignment plate 1011 comprises a plurality of through-openings1016 (see FIG. 25 ), and during assembly of the first tool half 101 eachof these through-openings 1016 accommodates one of the first sleeves1014 pre-mounted to the first tooling plate 1013 when the first toolingplate 1013 is completely inserted into the first slot 1012 and the firstalignment plate 1011 is thereafter mounted to the first fixed block1010. This provides for an individual alignment of each individual firstsleeve 1014 (and thus of each individual optical tool insert 1015) atthe time the first alignment plate 1011 is mounted to the first fixedblock 1010. This assembled state of the first tool half 101 can be seenbest in FIG. 28 (although the first too half 101 and the second toolhalf 102 are shown in the open position there).

Similarly, the second tool half 102 comprises a second fixed block 1020,to which a mounting plate 1021 is releasably mounted. This mountingplate 1021 comprises a second slot 1022 (in the embodiment shown twosuch second slots 1022) accommodating a second tooling plate 1023 (inthe embodiment shown two such second tooling plates 1023) to which aplurality of individual second sleeves 1024 are pre-mounted (see FIG. 26). Each individual second sleeve 1024 has an individual back pieceinsert 1025 mounted thereto (see FIG. 28 ), and this individual backpiece insert 1025 determines the shape of the convex non-optical backsurface of the front curve plastic lens mold FCM. The mounting plate1021, the second tooling plate 1023 and each second sleeve 1024 arefurther provided with hot runner through-holes (the hot runnerthrough-hole 10240 of the second sleeve 1024 being indicated in FIG. 26) accommodating (hollow) hot runner pipes 1026 for the injection of thethermoplastic material. These hot runner pipes 1026 are arranged in thesecond fixed block 1020 and extend out of the second fixed block 1020towards the first tool half 101 (see FIG. 29 , the grooves 1017 of thefirst alignment plate 1011 not being shown there). The second tool half102 further comprises a second alignment plate 1027 that comprises aplurality of through-openings 1028 (see FIG. 26 ). During assembly ofthe second tool half 102, each of these through-openings 1028accommodates one of the second sleeves 1024 pre-mounted to the secondtooling plate 1023 when the second tooling plate 1023 is completelyinserted into the second slot 1022 and the second alignment plate 1027is thereafter mounted to the mounting plate 1021. This provides for anindividual alignment of each individual second sleeve 1024 (and thus ofeach individual back piece insert 1025) at the time the second alignmentplate 1027 is mounted to the mounting plate 1021. However, unlike thefirst alignment plate, the second alignment plate 1027 is not fixedlymounted to the mounting plate 1021 but remains movable a short distanceaway from the mounting plate 1021, as this can be seen best in FIG. 28and FIG. 29 . In the open position (first tool half 101 and second toolhalf 102 being arranged away from each other as shown in FIG. 28 andFIG. 29 ), the second alignment plate 1027 is pre-biased to be arrangedat this short distance away from the mounting plate 1021 for reasonswhich are explained further below. This short distance between themounting plate 1021 and the second alignment plate 1027 does not existwhen the first tool half 101 and the second tool half 102 are in theclosed position shown in FIG. 23 and FIG. 24 .

In FIG. 25 it can be seen that the first alignment plate 1011 furthercomprises a plurality of straight grooves 1017, with each straightgroove 1017 opening out into the associated through-opening 1016accommodating the first sleeve 1014 to which the optical tool 1015 ismounted. This groove 1017 is shaped to form the tab T1 of the frontcurve plastic lens mold FCM (see FIG. 7 ). When the first tool half 101and the second tool half 102 are in the closed position (see FIG. 30 ,FIG. 31 and FIG. 32 ), a flowable thermoplastic material (e.g.polypropylene) is injected at high temperature and high pressure throughthe tapering end of a respective hot runner pipe 1026 (see FIG. 32 )into a respective groove 1017 (the groove 1017 not being shown in FIG.32 ). The injected flowable thermoplastic material flows along thegroove 1017 (FIG. 25 ) into the space 1018 (FIG. 31 ) formed between theoptical tool 1015 and the back piece 1025 while thermoplastic materialcontinues to be injected into the groove 1017 until the space betweenthe optical tool 1015 and the back piece 1025 as well as the groove 1017are completely filled with flowable thermoplastic material. While thehot runner pipes 1026 must be kept at high temperature (the flowablethermoplastic material must not be allowed to cool down in the hotrunner pipes 1026 to a temperature at which it may solidify, otherwisethe hot runner pipes 1026 are getting clogged), the first fixed block1010, the first alignment plate 1011 and the first tooling plate 1013 towhich the first sleeves 1014 are pre-mounted to which the optical toolinserts 1015 are mounted must be kept at a temperature that allows theinjected flowable thermoplastic material to quickly cool down to atemperature at which it solidifies at least to a state that allows forthe removal of a thus formed front curve plastic lens mold FCM. Thisholds, too, for the second fixed block 1020, the mounting plate 1021,the second tooling plate 1023 to which the second sleeves 1024 arepre-mounted to which the back piece inserts 1025 are mounted, and forthe second alignment plate 1027.

Once the injected thermoplastic material has solidified as describedabove to form the front curve plastic lens mold FCM (the first tool half101 and the second tool half 102 still being in the closed position),the second tool half 102 is moved away from the first tool half 101 intothe open position (see FIG. 27 , FIG. 28 and FIG. 29 ). This is acritical moment since the front curve plastic lens mold FCM may eitheradhere to the first tool half 101 or to the second tool half 102. For areliable set-up of the process, it must be made sure that the frontcurve plastic lens mold FCM predictably adheres to only one of the firsttool half 101 and the second tool half 102. In the embodiment described,it is made sure that the front curve plastic lens mold FCM predictablyadheres to the first tool half 101. This is achieved with the aid of thesecond alignment plate 1027 which—upon moving the second tool half 102away from the first tool half 101—is moved the above-discussed shortdistance away from the mounting plate (it is biased towards thisposition, see above), thus releasing the front curve plastic lens moldFCM from the back piece insert 1025. The second alignment plate 1027therefore acts as a strip-off plate that releases the front curveplastic lens mold FCM from the back piece insert 1025 upon moving thesecond tool half 102 away from the first tool half 101. As a result, thefront curve plastic lens mold FCM predictably adheres to the first toolhalf 101. A gripper tool 100 (see FIG. 4 ) with suction cups 1000 isthereafter inserted into the space formed between the first tool half101 and the second tool half 102 to remove the front curve plastic lensmolds FCM from the first tool half 101 with the aid of suction appliedto suction cups 1000 of the gripper tool 100, as this is described, inprinciple, in WO 2020/144622. Additional measures to release a plasticlens mold from a particular tool half or to make a plastic lens moldadhere to a particular tool half are also described in theafore-mentioned WO 2020/144622, as well as in WO 2020/109976. Afterhaving removed the front curve plastic lens molds FCM from the firsttool half 101 by gripping them with the gripper tool 100, the grippertool 100 is removed from the space between the first tool half 101 andthe second tool half 102, the front curve plastic lens molds FCM aretransferred to the front curve plastic lens mold buffer module 11, thesecond tool half 102 is moved towards the first tool half 101 to theclosed position, and the next shot of flowable thermoplastic material isinjected through the hot runner pipes 1026 as described above.

The cycle time for the whole process described above (i.e. moving thesecond tool half 102 towards the first tool half 101 to the closedposition, injecting the flowable thermoplastic material, moving thesecond tool half 102 away from the first tool half 101 to the openposition, inserting the gripper tool into the space formed between thefirst tool half 101 and the second tool half 102, removing the frontcurve plastic lens molds FCM from the first tool half 101 through theapplication of suction to make the front curve plastic lens molds FCMadhere to the gripper tool, and removing the gripper tool from the spacebetween formed between the first tool half 101 and the second tool half102) is extremely short, and is less than ten seconds, in particularless than five seconds, and preferably two to five seconds. By way ofexample, this cycle time may be as short as two, three, four or fiveseconds, in particular about four seconds. Such a short cycle timerenders the production line according to the invention particularlyefficient.

The description above holds similarly for the second injection-moldingmachine 12, which comprises a third tool half 121 and a fourth tool half122 (see FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 ) for concurrently producing a plurality ofbase curve plastic lens molds BCM. The number of base curve plastic lensmolds BCM concurrently produced with the second injection-moldingmachine 12 corresponds to the number of front curve plastic lens moldsFCM concurrently produced with the first injection-molding machine 10,and the cycle time of the second injection-molding machine 12 is alsoidentical with the cycle time of the first injection-molding machine 10.This means, that within one cycle (i.e. within the same cycle time) thesame number of front curve plastic molds FCM and base curve plasticmolds BCM are produced.

Unlike in the first injection-molding machine 10, in the secondinjection molding machine 12 the optical tool inserts are arranged inthe movable third tool half 121 shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 . The thirdtool half 121 has a similar three-plate construction as the second toolhalf 102 described above. The back piece inserts are arranged in thefixedly arranged fourth tool half 122. Otherwise, the construction ofthe third tool half 121 is similar to that of the second tool half 102described above, and the construction of the fourth tool half 122 issimilar to that of the first tool half 101 described above. Therefore,with respect to a description of the detailed construction of the thirdtool half 121 and the fourth tool half 122 it is referred to thedescription of the second tool half 102 and the first tool half 101above.

Tuning back to FIG. 25 and FIG. 26 , in the embodiment shown theresixteen front curve plastic lens molds FCM are concurrently producedwithin one cycle. Similarly, sixteen base curve plastic lens molds areconcurrently produced within one cycle. Assuming that the samelens-forming material is used to manufacture the ophthalmic lenses usingthese front curve plastic lens molds FCM and base curve plastic lensmolds BCM this means that it is possible to concurrently produce up tosixteen different ophthalmic lenses, these ophthalmic lenses beingdifferent in at least one property (i.e. front curve geometry, diopters,toric parameters, rotational stabilization features, etc.).

However, the flexibility of the production line according to theinvention goes far beyond that. For example, after a predeterminednumber of ophthalmic lenses has been manufactured using a firstlens-forming material and using the front curve plastic lens molds FCMand base curve plastic lens molds BCM described, it is possible toswitch to a different lens-forming material. To achieve this, it issimply necessary to dose a different lens-forming material into thefront curve plastic lens molds FCM in the filling station 144. Inaddition, the use of a different lens forming material may requiredifferent temperature profiles and exposure times in the heating chamber161 of the oven 160 to cure the different lens-forming materialcontained in the closed plastic lens molds BCM/FCM. Additionally, adifferent level of oxygen may be admissible in the heating chamber 161of the oven 160, so that the gas atmosphere in the heating chamber ofthe oven 160 must be inert to a higher or lower degree, depending on thelens-forming material actually used. Yet further, in the treatmentmodule 21 the treatment liquids contained in the tanks of the treatmentbaths to which the cured lenses CL must be exposed may be different.Also, the duration of exposure to the treatment liquids may bedifferent, depending on the lens-forming material actually used. Forexample, some lens-forming materials may require a coating to be appliedto the cured lens, while other lens-forming materials may not requiresuch coating or even prohibit the application of a coating to the curedlens. Further by way of example, some lens-forming materials may requireorganic extraction liquids for the extraction while other lens-formingmaterial may only require extraction in water. In case various types oftreatment baths are provided in the treatment module 21 of theproduction line according to the invention it is possible toconcurrently produce ophthalmic lenses of different lens-formingmaterials in the production line according to the invention, all themore since the production of ophthalmic lenses made from a particularlens-forming material may take some hours before the ophthalmic lensesare cured, chemically treated, inspected and packaged. Especially thecuring process, but also the chemical treatment process may betime-consuming. The production line according to the invention iscapable of dealing with a high number of such different requirements,and is therefore very flexible, also with respect to concurrentlyproducing in the production line ophthalmic lenses made from differentlens-forming materials.

Another aspect rendering the production line according to the inventionvery flexible is the capability of quickly performing a lot change. Byway of example, a lot change is explained in the following for the frontcurve plastic lens molds FCM. To perform a lot change, at least theoptical tool inserts 1015 mounted to the first sleeves 1014 pre-mountedto the first tooling plate 1013 must be changed (as these optical toolinserts 1015 determine the geometrical shape of the optical surface ofthe front curve plastic lens molds FCM). In addition, in many instancesthe back piece inserts 1025 mounted to the second sleeves 1024pre-mounted to the second tooling plate 1023 must then be changed aswell (these back piece optical tool inserts 1025 determining thegeometrical shape of the non-optical back surface of the front curveplastic lens molds FCM).

To perform a change of the optical tool inserts 1015 mounted to thefirst sleeves 1014, the second tool half 102 is moved away from thefirst tool half 101 (open position). The first alignment plate 1011 ofthe first tool half 101 is then demounted from the first fixed block1010 and is moved away from the first fixed block 1010, so that thefirst sleeves 1014 pre-mounted to the first tooling plate 1013 are nolonger accommodated in the through-holes 1016 of the first alignmentplate 1011. Thereafter, the first tooling plate 1013 with thepre-mounted first sleeves 1014 to which the old first optical toolinserts 1015 are mounted (which are to be replaced) is unfixed andpulled out of the first slot 1012 (see FIG. 25 ). A new first toolingplate 1013 with pre-mounted first sleeves 1014 to which the new (i.e.different) optical tool inserts 1015 are mounted is then slidablyinserted into the first slot 1012 and is fixed. Thereafter, the firstalignment plate 1011 is moved towards the first fixed block 1010 and ismounted to the first fixed block 1010 again. The first sleeves 1014 ofthe new first tooling plate 1013 to which the new optical tool inserts1015 are mounted are then accommodated in the through-openings 1016 ofthe first alignment plate 1011 again, and the change is completed.Evidently, this change can be performed in a short time as the new firsttooling plate 1013 can be equipped with the first sleeves 1014 and thenew optical tool inserts 1015 remote from the production line and wellin advance of such change, so that at the time of the change only theafore-described change of the first tooling plate 1013 must beperformed. Also, the change can be easily and quickly performed as theentire first tool half 101 has an uncritical temperature allowing tohandle the first tooling plate 1013.

With respect to a change of the optical tool inserts 1025 mounted to thesecond sleeves 1024 of the second tooling plate 1023, the situation isdifferent. The reason for this is that the second tool half 102 alsocomprises the hot runner pipes 1026 which are at high temperature sincethe flowable (hot) thermoplastic material is injected through these hotrunner pipes 1026. Waiting until these hot runner pipes 1026 have cooleddown to an uncritical temperature would render the change of the secondtooling plate 1023 highly inefficient, as this would take veryconsiderable time during which no production of ophthalmic lenses ispossible in the production line. Also, in case the hot runner pipes 1026were allowed to cool down, they would have to be heated to the requiredtemperature after the change of the second tooling plate 1023. Thisheating of the hot runner pipes 1026 would again take some time, thusrendering the change of the second tooling plate 1023 inefficient.

To perform the change of the second tooling plate, the second alignmentplate 1027 is demounted from the mounting plate 1021 and is moved awayfrom the mounting plate 1021 until the second sleeves 1024 to which theback piece inserts 1025 are mounted are no longer accommodated in thethrough-openings 1028 of the second alignment plate 1027 (see FIG. 26 ).Next, the mounting plate 1021 is demounted from the second fixed block1020 and is moved away from the second fixed block 1020. Thus, themounting plate 1021 is separated from the second fixed block 1020comprising the hot runner pipes 1026. Due to this separation, it ispossible to on one hand maintain the high temperature of the hot runnerpipes 1026 while on the other hand being able to perform the change ofthe second tooling plate 1023 without being negatively impacted by thehigh temperature of the hot runner pipes 1026.

To effect the change of the second tooling plate 1023, the secondtooling plate 1023 is unfixed and pulled out of the slot 1022 providedin the mounting plate 1021. The new second tooling plate 1023 comprisingthe pre-mounted second sleeves 1024 with the new (i.e. different) backpiece inserts 1025 mounted thereto is then slidably inserted into thesecond slot 1022 and fixed therein. Thereafter, the mounting plate 1021is mounted to the second fixed block 1020 again, and the secondalignment plate 1027 is mounted to the mounting plate 1021. Also here,this change can be performed in a short time as the new second toolingplate 1023 can be equipped with the first sleeves 1024 and the new backpiece inserts 1025 remote from the production line and well in advanceof such change, so that at the time of the change only theafore-described change of the second tooling plate 1023 must beperformed. Also, the change can be performed at an uncriticaltemperature, while at the same time it is possible to maintain the hightemperature of the hot runner pipes 1026. This allows to rapidly resumeproduction after the change of the second tooling plate 1023 iscompleted.

The description of the change of the tooling plates similarly applies tothe second injection-molding machine 12 and the third tool half 121 andfourth tool half 122 thereof (see FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 ). As mentionedalready, unlike in the first injection-molding machine 10, in the secondinjection molding machine 12 the optical tool inserts are arranged inthe movable third tool half 121 which has a similar three-plateconstruction as the second tool half 102 described above. The back pieceinserts are arranged in the fixedly arranged fourth tool half 122.Otherwise, the construction of the third tool half 121 is similar tothat of the second tool half 102 described above, and the constructionof the fourth tool half 122 is similar to that of the first tool half101 described above. Therefore, with respect to a description of thedetailed construction of the third tool half 121 and the fourth toolhalf 122 it is referred to the description of the second tool half 102and the first tool half 101 above.

With respect to scalability, the number of individual sleeves (first,second, third and fourth) pre-mounted to the respective tooling plate(first, second, third and fourth) may be varied, and also the number ofslots per tool half (first, second, third and fourth) may be varied.However, in any event the number of front curve plastic lens molds FCMproduced by the first injection-molding machine 10 per (clock) cycle andthe number of base curve plastic lens molds BCM produced by the secondinjection molding machine 12 per (clock) cycle are always the same. Asdescribed above, the particular number of front curve plastic lens moldsFCM and base curve plastic lens molds BCM produced during one (clock)cycle has consequences for the casting module and its components (higheror lower number of front curve plastic lens molds FCM and base curveplastic lens molds carried by one mover, number of dosing tips in thefilling station, etc.).

Embodiments of the invention have been described with the aid of thedrawings. However, the invention is not limited to these embodiments,but rather many changes or variations are possible without departingfrom the technical teaching underlying the invention. Therefore, thescope of protection is defined by the appended claims.

1. An automated production line for the production of ophthalmic lenses,in particular contact lenses such as soft contact lenses, for examplesilicone hydrogel contact lenses, the production line comprising: aproduction line front end (1) comprising: a first injection-moldingmachine (10) arranged in the production line and configured toconcurrently produce a scalable plurality of front curve plastic lensmolds (FCM) within a predetermined cycle time of less than ten seconds,in particular less than five seconds, and preferably in two to fiveseconds; a second injection-molding machine (12) arranged in theproduction line and configured to concurrently produce a scalableplurality of base curve plastic lens molds (BCM) corresponding to thescalable plurality of front curve plastic lens molds within the samepredetermined cycle time of less than ten seconds, in particular lessthan five seconds, and preferably in two to five seconds; a castingmodule (14) comprising a filling station (144) configured to dose apredetermined amount of lens-forming material into a scalablepredetermined number of the front curve plastic lens molds (FCM), acapping station (145) configured to place a corresponding scalablepredetermined number of the base curve plastic lens molds (BCM) havingthe same age as the scalable predetermined number of front curve plasticlens molds (FCM) on the scalable predetermined number of front curveplastic lens molds (FCM) containing the predetermined amount oflens-forming material, to form a corresponding scalable predeterminednumber of closed plastic lens molds (BCM/FCM) containing thelens-forming material; a first transfer robot (1470) configured totransfer the corresponding scalable predetermined number of closedplastic lens molds (BCM/FCM) containing the lens-forming material fromthe casting module (14) to a stacking module (15) comprising a pluralityof lens mold trays (150), each lens mold tray (150) configured for beingloaded with a multiple of the corresponding scalable predeterminednumber of closed plastic lens molds (BCM/FCM) transferred by the firsttransfer robot (1470) and containing the lens-forming material, astacking robot for stacking a scalable plurality of lens mold trays(150) loaded with the closed plastic lens molds containing thelens-forming material to form a scalable stack (151) of lens mold trays(150); a curing module (16) comprising a scalable plurality of ovens(160), a stack handling robot (162), wherein each individual oven (160)of the scalable plurality of ovens comprises a heatable chamber (161)sized to accommodate a said scalable stack (151) of lens mold trays(150) carrying the closed plastic lens molds (BCM/FCM) as well as a doorfor opening and closing the chamber (161), to allow the stack handlingrobot (162) to load a said scalable stack (151) of lens mold trays (150)loaded with the closed plastic lens molds (BCM/FCM) containing thelens-forming material into the heatable chamber (161) when the door isopen, to allow the heatable chamber (161) to be heated to apredetermined temperature to effect curing of the lens-forming materialto form cured lenses (CL) in the closed plastic lens molds on theindividual lens mold trays (150) of the scalable stack (151) when thedoor is closed, and to allow the stack handling robot (162) to remove asaid scalable stack (151) of lens mold trays (150) loaded with theclosed plastic lens molds (BCM/FCM) containing the cured lenses (CL)from the chamber (161) when the door is open again, and; a destackingmodule (17) comprising a destacking robot configured to destack theindividual lens mold trays (150) from the scalable stack (151) of lensmold trays (150) removed from the chamber (161) of a said oven (160) forallowing access to the closed plastic molds (BCM/FCM) of each individuallens mold tray (150); a second transfer robot (180) configured totransfer a predetermined number of the closed plastic lens molds(BCM/FCM) containing the cured lenses (CL) from a said individual lensmold tray (150) to a demolding and delensing module (18) comprising ademolding station (1813, 1820) configured to open the predeterminednumber of closed plastic lens molds (BCM/FCM) by separating the basecurve plastic lens molds (BCM) and the front curve plastic lens molds(FCM) from each other, with the cured lenses adhering either to the basecurve plastic lens molds (BCM) or to the front curve plastic lens molds(FCM), a delensing station (1817, 1827) configured to release the curedlenses (CL) from the base curve plastic lens molds (BCM) or from thefront curve plastic lens molds (FCM), a transfer gripper (TG2)configured to transfer the cured lenses (CL) released from the delensingstation to a treatment carrier tray (200); a production line back end(2) comprising: a scalable treatment module (20) comprising a number ofliquid baths for a liquid bath treatment of the cured lenses (CL)carried by the treatment carrier tray (200) to obtain the ophthalmiclenses, wherein the number of liquid baths are reduced or increasedpending on the number of ophthalmic lenses concurrently produced by theproduction lines; an inspection module (21) for the inspection of theophthalmic lenses; and a primary packaging module (22) for packagingthose ophthalmic lenses that have successfully passed the inspection inprimary packaging containers.
 2. The production line according to claim1, wherein the first injection-molding machine (10) comprises a firsttool half (101) and a second tool half (102), the first tool half (101)and the second tool half (102) being movably arranged relative to oneanother between a closed position for injection-molding of the frontcurve plastic molds (FCM) and an open position for removal of the moldedfront curve plastic molds (FCM), wherein the first tool half (101)comprises a first tooling plate (1013) to which a scalable plurality ofindividual first sleeves (1014) are pre-mounted, each of the individualfirst sleeves (1014) having an individual optical tool insert (1015)mounted thereto that determines the shape of a concave optical frontsurface of the front curve plastic lens mold (FCM) formed by theindividual optical tool insert (1015), and wherein the second tool half(102) comprises a second tooling plate (1023) to which a scalableplurality of individual second sleeves (1024) are pre-mounted, thescalable plurality of individual second sleeves (1024) corresponding tothe scalable plurality of individual first sleeves (1014) of the firsttool half (101), each of the individual second sleeves (1024) having anindividual back piece insert (1025) mounted thereto that determines theshape of a convex back surface of the front curve plastic lens mold(FCM) formed by the individual back piece insert (1025), wherein thefirst tool half (101) further comprises a first slot (1012)accommodating the first tooling plate (1013), the first slot (1012)allowing to mount the first tooling plate (1013) by sliding the firsttooling plate (1013) into the first slot (1012) and then fixing thefirst tooling plate (1013), and allowing to demount the first toolingplate (1013) by unfixing the first tooling plate (1013) and then pullingthe first tooling plate (1013) out of the first slot (1012), and whereinthe second tool half (102) further comprises a second slot (1022)accommodating the second tooling plate (1023), the second slot (1022)allowing to mount the second tooling plate (1022) by sliding the secondtooling plate (1023) into the second slot (1022) and then fixing thesecond tooling plate (1023), and allowing to demount the second toolingplate (1023) by unfixing the second tooling plate (1023) and thenpulling the second tooling plate (1023) out of the second slot (1022);and wherein the second injection-molding machine (12) comprises a thirdtool half (121) and a fourth tool half (122), the third tool half (121)and the fourth tool half (122) being movably arranged relative to oneanother between a closed position for injection-molding of the basecurve plastic lens molds (BCM) and an open position for removal of themolded base curve plastic lens molds (BCM), wherein the third tool half(121) comprises a third tooling plate to which a scalable plurality ofindividual third sleeves are pre-mounted, each of the individual thirdsleeves having an individual optical tool insert mounted thereto thatdetermines the shape of a convex optical front surface of the base curveplastic lens mold formed by the individual optical tool insert, andwherein the fourth tool half (122) comprises a fourth tooling plate towhich a scalable plurality of individual fourth sleeves are pre-mounted,the scalable plurality of individual fourth sleeves corresponding to thescalable plurality of individual third sleeves of the third tool half(121), each of the individual fourth sleeves having an individual backpiece insert mounted thereto that determines the shape of the concaveback surface of the base curve plastic lens mold formed by theindividual back piece insert, wherein the third tool half further (121)comprises a third slot accommodating the third tooling plate, the thirdslot allowing to mount the third tooling plate by sliding the thirdtooling plate into the third slot and then fixing the third toolingplate, and allowing to demount the third tooling plate by unfixing thethird tooling plate and then pulling the third tooling plate out of thethird slot, and wherein the fourth tool half (122) further comprises afourth slot accommodating the fourth tooling plate, the fourth slotallowing to mount the fourth tooling plate by sliding the fourth toolingplate into the fourth slot and then fixing the fourth tooling plate, andallowing to demount the fourth tooling plate by unfixing the fourthtooling plate and then pulling the fourth tooling plate out of thefourth slot.
 3. The production line according to claim 2, wherein thefirst tool half (101) comprises a first fixed block (1010) comprisingthe first slot (1012) accommodating the first tooling plate (1013) towhich the scalable plurality of individual first sleeves (1014) arepre-mounted, a first alignment plate (1011) releasably mounted to thefirst fixed block (1010), the first alignment plate (1011) beingprovided with a scalable plurality of separate first through-openings(1016) corresponding to the scalable plurality of individual firstsleeves (1014), with each separate first through-opening (1016) of thefirst alignment plate (1011) accommodating therein one individual firstsleeve (1014) of the scalable plurality of individual first sleeves(1014) for aligning the one individual first sleeve (1014), the firstalignment plate (1011) being movable away from the first fixed block(1010) when being unmounted from the first fixed block (1010) to allowfor sliding the first tooling plate (1013) into the first slot (1012) orpulling the first tooling plate (1013) out of the first slot (1012); andwherein the second tool (102) half comprises a second fixed block (1020)comprising a scalable plurality of hot runner pipes (1026) arrangedtherein for the injection of a thermoplastic material, the hot runnerpipes (1026) extending out of the second fixed block (1020) towards thefirst tool half (101), a mounting plate (1021) releasably mounted to thesecond fixed block (1020), the mounting plate (1021) comprising thesecond slot (1022) accommodating the second tooling plate (1023) withthe pre-mounted scalable plurality of individual second sleeves (1024),the mounting plate (1021), the second tooling plate (1023) and theindividual second sleeves (1024) each comprising hot runnerthrough-holes accommodating therein the hot runner pipes extending outof the second fixed block (1020), the mounting plate (1021) beingmovable away from the second fixed block (1020) when being unmountedfrom the second fixed block (1020) to allow for sliding the secondtooling plate (1023) into the second slot (1022) or pulling the secondtooling plate (1023) out of the second slot (1022), a second alignmentplate (1027) movably mounted towards and away from the mounting plate(1021), the second alignment plate (1027) being provided with a scalableplurality of separate second through-openings (1028) corresponding tothe scalable plurality of individual second sleeves (1024), with eachseparate second through-opening (1028) accommodating therein oneindividual second sleeve (1024) of the scalable plurality of individualsecond sleeves (1024) for aligning the one individual second sleeve(1024).
 4. The production line according to any one of claims 2 or 3,wherein the third tool half (121) comprises a third fixed blockcomprising a scalable plurality of hot runner pipes arranged therein forthe injection of a thermoplastic material, the hot runner pipesextending out of the third fixed block towards the fourth tool half, amounting plate releasably mounted to the third fixed block, the mountingplate comprising the third slot accommodating the third tooling platewith the pre-mounted scalable plurality of individual third sleeves, themounting plate, the third tooling plate and the individual third sleeveseach comprising hot runner through-holes accommodating therein the hotrunner pipes extending out of the third fixed block, the mounting platebeing movable away from the third fixed block when being unmounted fromthe third fixed block to allow for sliding the third tooling plate intothe third slot or pulling the third tooling plate out of the third slot,a third alignment plate movably mounted towards and away from themounting plate, the third alignment plate being provided with a scalableplurality of separate third through-openings corresponding to thescalable plurality of individual third sleeves, with each separate thirdthrough-opening accommodating therein one individual third sleeve of thescalable plurality of individual third sleeves for aligning the oneindividual third sleeve; and wherein the fourth tool half (122)comprises a fourth fixed block comprising the fourth slot accommodatingthe fourth tooling plate to which the scalable plurality of individualfourth sleeves are pre-mounted, a fourth alignment plate releasablymounted to the fourth fixed block, the fourth alignment plate beingprovided with a scalable plurality of separate fourth through-openingscorresponding to the scalable plurality of individual fourth sleeves,with each separate fourth through-opening of the fourth alignment plateaccommodating therein one individual fourth sleeve of the scalableplurality of individual fourth sleeves for aligning the one individualfourth sleeve, the fourth alignment plate being movable away from thefourth fixed block when being unmounted from the fourth fixed block toallow for sliding the fourth tooling plate into the fourth slot orpulling the fourth tooling plate out of the fourth slot.
 5. Theproduction line according to claim 1, wherein the production line frontend further comprises: a front curve plastic lens mold buffer module(11) arranged between the first injection-molding machine (10) and thecasting module (14), the front curve plastic lens mold buffer module(11) being configured to store the front curve plastic lens molds (FCM)removed from the first injection-molding machine (10) for a firstpredetermined cooling time period at predetermined environmentalconditions until the front curve plastic molds (FCM) are transferred tothe casting module (14); a base curve plastic lens mold buffer module(13) arranged between the second injection-molding machine (12) and thecasting module (14), the base curve plastic lens mold buffer module (13)being configured to store the base curve plastic lens molds (BCM)removed from the second injection-molding machine (12) for a secondpredetermined cooling time period at the same predeterminedenvironmental conditions as the front curve plastic lens molds (FCM)until the base curve plastic lens molds (BCM) are transferred to thecasting module (14); wherein the casting module (14) is configured tohave the same predetermined environmental conditions as have the basecurve plastic mold buffer module (13) and the front curve plastic moldbuffer module (11), and wherein the capping station (145) is configuredto place only such base curve plastic lens molds (BCM) onto the frontcurve plastic lens molds (FCM) for which the same time period haselapsed between the removal of the front curve plastic lens molds (FCM)from the first injection-molding machine and the removal of the basecurve plastic lens molds (BCM) from the second injection-moldingmachine.
 6. The production line according to claim 1, wherein thecasting module (14) further comprises a toric angle verification station(146) arranged downstream of the capping station, the toric angleverification station comprising a camera (1460).
 7. The production lineaccording to claim 1, wherein the demolding and delensing modulecomprises one or both of a front curve demolding and delensing branch(181) for opening the closed plastic lens molds (BCM/FCM) containing thecured lenses (CL) and for picking the cured lenses (CL) up from thefront curve plastic lens molds (FCM); a base curve demolding anddelensing branch (182) for opening the closed plastic lens molds(BCM/FCM) containing the cured lenses (CL) and for picking the curedlenses (CL) up from a temporary carrier; wherein the front curvedemolding and delensing branch (181) comprises a lens pre-releasestation (1810) comprising mechanical stamps (1812) for pressing againstthe back surface of the base curve plastic lens (BCM) molds to releasethe cured lenses (CL) from the base curve plastic lens molds (BCM), thedemolding station (1813) for opening the plastic lens molds (BCM/FCM),and the delensing station (1817), the delensing station comprising pins(1818) for pressing against the back surfaces of the front curve plasticlens molds (FCM) to release the cured lenses (CL) from the front curveplastic lens molds (FCM), to allow the released cured lenses (CL) to betransferred by the transfer gripper (TG2) to the treatment carrier tray(200); wherein the base curve demolding and delensing branch (182)comprises the demolding station (1820) for opening the closed plasticlens molds (BCM/FCM), the demolding station (1820) comprising pins(1821) for pressing against the back surfaces of the front curve plasticlens molds (FCM) to release the cured lenses (CL) from the front curveplastic lens molds (FCM); the delensing station (1727) comprisingreceiver grippers (1826) arranged beneath the base curve plastic lensmolds (BCM) and ultrasonic horns (1824) for applying ultrasonic waves tothe back surfaces of the base curve plastic lens molds (BCM) to releasethe cured lenses (CL) from the base curve plastic lens molds (BCM) andallow them to be received by the receiver grippers (1826) arrangedbeneath the base curve plastic lens molds (BCM), to allow the receivedcured lenses (CL) to be transferred by the transfer gripper (TG2) to thetreatment carrier tray (200).
 8. The production line according to claim1, wherein the treatment module (20) of the production line back end (2)comprises: a treatment carrier tray stacking station (201) for stackinga scalable plurality of individual treatment carrier trays (200) oneabove the other to form a scalable stack (202) of treatment carriertrays carrying the cured lenses (CL); a scalable plurality of treatmentbaths (204, 205), each treatment bath (204, 205) of the scalableplurality of treatment baths (204, 205) comprising a tank (2040, 2050)sized to accommodate a said scalable stack (202) of treatment carriertrays (200) and containing a treatment liquid (2041, 2051) selected fromthe group of water, an organic extraction liquid, a coating liquid, ormixtures thereof; a handling robot (203) configured to pick the scalablestack (202) of treatment carrier trays (200) and to place the saidscalable stack (2020) of treatment carrier trays (200) into a firsttreatment bath (204) of the scalable plurality of treatment baths (204,205) for a predetermined period of time, further configured to removethe said scalable stack (202) of treatment carrier trays (200) from thefirst treatment bath (204) after the predetermined period of time andlift the scalable stack (202) of treatment carrier trays (200) to aposition above the tank (2040) of the first treatment bath (204),further configured to tilt the lifted scalable stack (202) of treatmentcarrier trays (200) about a pivot shaft (2032) with the tilted scalablestack (202) of treatment carrier trays (200) still being arranged abovethe tank (2040) of the first treatment bath (204) to allow the treatmentliquid (2041) remaining in the scalable stack (202) of treatment carriertrays (200) to flow back from the tilted scalable stack (202) oftreatment carrier trays (200) into the tank (2040) of the firsttreatment bath (204), further configured to tilt the lifted scalablestack (202) of treatment carrier trays (200) back, and furtherconfigured to move the scalable stack (202) of treatment carrier trays(200) from the first treatment bath (204) to a second treatment bath(205) of the scalable plurality of treatment baths (204, 205) or to anophthalmic lens transfer station (207) where the individual treatmentcarrier trays (200) of the scalable stack (202) of treatment carriertrays (200) are destacked and the ophthalmic lenses obtained by theliquid bath treatment of the cured lenses (CL) are transferred from thedestacked individual treatment carrier trays (200) to the inspectionmodule (21).
 9. The production line according to claim 1, wherein theinspection module (21) of the production line back end (2) comprises: aclosed-loop rail (210) having a geometric shape that can be freelydetermined so as to fit in the space defined by a room where theclosed-loop rail (210) is arranged, a plurality of self-driving shuttles(211) arranged on the closed-loop rail (210), each self-driving shuttle(211) carrying a plurality of inspection cuvettes (2110) arrangedthereon; a plurality of stations (2100 — 21010) arranged along theclosed-loop rail, the plurality of stations comprising the followingindividual stations arranged along the closed-loop rail (210) in thefollowing sequence a cuvette filling station (2100) configured to fillthe plurality of cuvettes (2110) with water, the plurality of cuvettes(2110) being arranged on a said shuttle (211) in a handling position, alens insertion station (2101) configured to insert the ophthalmic lensestransferred from the treatment module (20) into the plurality of filledcuvettes (2110) arranged on the shuttles (211), one said ophthalmic lensinto one said cuvette (2110), a first cuvette tilting station (2106)configured to tilt the plurality of cuvettes (2110) arranged on theshuttle (211) from the handling position to an inspection position, alens inspection station (2107) configured to inspect the ophthalmiclenses in the plurality of cuvettes (2110), a first cuvette tilting-backstation (2108) for tilting the plurality of cuvettes (2110) containingthe inspected ophthalmic lenses from the inspection position back to thehandling position, an ophthalmic lens transfer station (2109) fortransferring those inspected ophthalmic lenses that have successfullypassed the inspection to the primary packaging module (22), a cuvettecleaning station (21010) for sucking the water from the plurality ofcuvettes (2110).
 10. The production line according to claim 9, whereinthe inspection module (21) further comprises the following stationsarranged between the lens insertion station (2101) and the first cuvettetilting station (2106): an initial cuvette tilting station (2102) fortilting the cuvettes (2110) containing the ophthalmic lenses inserted inthe lens insertion station (2101) to the inspection position, aninversion detection station (2103) configured to detect whether or notan ophthalmic lens contained in the cuvette (2110) is inverted, aninitial tilting-back station (2104) for tilting the cuvettes (2110) backto the handling position, a re-inverting station (2105) for re-invertingophthalmic lenses which are inverted.
 11. A method for the automatedproduction of ophthalmic lenses, in particular contact lenses such assoft contact lenses, for example silicone hydrogel contact lenses, themethod being capable of being carried out in a production line accordingto any one of the preceding claims, the method comprising the steps of:concurrently producing a scalable plurality of front curve plastic lensmolds (FCM) by injection-molding the front curve plastic lens molds inthe production line within a predetermined cycle time of less than tenseconds, in particular less than five seconds, and preferably in two tofive seconds; concurrently producing a scalable plurality of base curveplastic lens molds (BCM) corresponding to the scalable plurality offront curve plastic lens molds (FCM) by injection-molding the base curveplastic lens molds (BCM) in the production line within the samepredetermined cycle time of less than ten seconds, in particular lessthan five seconds, and preferably in two to five seconds; filling apredetermined amount of a lens-forming material into a scalablepredetermined number of the front curve plastic lens molds (FCM);placing a corresponding scalable predetermined number of base curveplastic lens molds (BCM) having the same age as the scalablepredetermined number of front curve plastic lens molds (FCM) onto thefront curve plastic lens molds (FCM) containing the lens-formingmaterial to form a corresponding scalable number of closed plastic lensmolds (BCM/FCM) containing the lens-forming material; transferring thecorresponding scalable number of closed plastic lens molds (BCM/FCM)containing the lens-forming material and placing them onto a lens moldtray (150); stacking a plurality of lens mold trays (150) loaded withthe closed plastic lens molds containing the lens-forming material toform a scalable stack (151) of lens mold trays (150); loading thescalable stack (151) of lens mold trays (150) loaded with the plasticlens molds (BCM/FCM) containing the lens-forming material into aheatable chamber (161) of an oven (160) of a scalable number of ovens(160); heating the chamber (161) of the oven (160) of the scalableplurality of ovens (160) to a predetermined temperature to effect curingof the lens-forming material to form cured lenses (CL) in the closedplastic lens molds (BCM/FCM); removing a said scalable stack (151) oflens mold trays (150) loaded with the closed plastic lens molds(BCM/FCM) containing the cured lenses from the chamber (161); destackingthe individual trays (150) from the scalable stack (151) of lens moldtrays (150) removed from the chamber (161) for allowing access to theclosed plastic molds (BCM/FCM) of each individual lens mold tray (150);transferring a predetermined number of the closed plastic lens molds(BCM/FCM) containing the cured lenses (CL) from a said individual lensmold tray (150) in order for the closed molds (BCM/FCM) being opened andthe cured lenses (CL) being released; opening the closed lens molds(BCM/FCM) by separating the base curve plastic lens molds (BCM) and thefront curve plastic lens molds (FCM) from each other; releasing thecured lenses (CL) from the base curve plastic lens molds (BCM) or thefront curve plastic lens molds (FCM); transferring the released curedlenses (CL) to a treatment carrier tray (200); treating the cured lenses(CL) in a treatment bath (204, 205) to obtain the ophthalmic lenses;inspecting the ophthalmic lenses; and packaging those ophthalmic lensesthat have successfully passed the inspection in primary packagingcontainers.
 12. The method according to claim 11, wherein ophthalmiclenses having different properties are concurrently manufactured in theproduction line.
 13. The method according to any one of claims 11 or 12using an apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein incase the ophthalmic lenses to be manufactured by the production line aredifferent from those presently manufactured by the production line, atleast one of the first tooling plate (1013), the second tooling plate(1023), the third tooling plate and the fourth tooling plate is pulledout of the first slot (1012), the second slot (1022), the third slot orthe fourth slot, respectively, and at least one of a new first toolingplate (1013), a new second tooling plate (1023), a new third toolingplate and a new fourth tooling plate having a scalable plurality ofoptical tool inserts (1015) or back pieces (1025) mounted to therespective first sleeves (1014), second sleeves (1024), third sleevesand fourth sleeves pre-mounted thereto is slid into at least one of thefirst slot (1012), the second slot (1022), the third slot and the fourthslot.
 14. The method according to claim 11, wherein further the toricangle (α) of the base curve plastic molds (BCM) and the front curveplastic molds (FCM) relative to each other is verified prior totransferring the corresponding scalable number of closed plastic lensmolds (BCM/FCM) containing the lens-forming material and placing themonto a lens mold tray (150).
 15. The method according to claim 11,further comprising the steps of prior to treating the cured lenses (CL)in the treatment bath (204, 205), stacking a plurality of individualtreatment carrier trays (200) one above the other to form a scalablestack (202) of treatment carrier trays (200) carrying the cured lenses(CL); picking the scalable stack (202) of treatment carrier trays (200)and placing the scalable stack (202) of treatment carrier trays (202)into a first treatment bath (204) for a predetermined period of time,the first treatment bath (204) containing a treatment liquid selectedfrom the group of water, an organic extraction liquid, a coating liquid,or mixtures thereof; removing the scalable stack (202) of treatmentcarrier trays (200) from the first treatment bath (204) after thepredetermined period of time and lifting the scalable stack (202) oftreatment carrier trays (202) to a position above the first treatmentbath (204), and then pivoting the scalable stack (202) about a pivotshaft (2023) with the scalable stack (202) still being positioned abovethe first treatment bath (204) to allow the treatment liquid remainingin the scalable stack (202) to flow back into the first treatment bath(204), thereafter pivoting the scalable stack (202) back; moving thescalable stack (202) of treatment carrier trays (200) to a secondtreatment bath (205) and placing the scalable stack (202) into thesecond treatment bath (205), or moving the scalable stack (202) oftreatment carrier trays (200) to an ophthalmic lens transfer station(207) and destacking the individual treatment carrier trays (200) andtransferring the ophthalmic lenses contained in an individual treatmentcarrier tray (200) into inspection cuvettes (2110) for inspection of theophthalmic lenses, one said ophthalmic lens into one cuvette (2110).